Making Mr Right
by magisterquinn
Summary: [AU]Imaginary boyfriends never go out of style, because when you’re making Mr. Right nothing can go wrong... BBxRae RobxStar CyxBee KFxJinx TerraxSlade. A sappy Vday romantic comedy along the lines of “Sex and the City” [Complete]
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Here is one chapter of the Valentine's Day thing I wanted to do. It's the longer story coming from a bunch of one-shots intended for V-Day, but like I said, this is a bit longer (not as long as _One Bird, Two Stones _or even _Before Sunrise _for that matter) so it might be completed post-V-Day. Only because I have very little time to sleep let alone write. **

**It's also based on the feedback I got from _The Scene _(though not a continuation of it),I noticed people liked the earthly cynical approach to Raven so I thought I might expand on that.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans.**

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* * *

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**Chapter 1 **

**A single unifying theme occurs through out human history: **

**It seemed like a good idea at the time**

Ahhh… Herbal tea and a good book on a quiet Sunday morning.

RING!

Good Lord all mighty, why, in the name of God do people call just when you're about to fall into relaxation. Why? I sat there, holding my open book on my lap, eyes closed, trying to drown out the sound of th-

RING!

Crap. Concentration broken, I trudged over to my kitchen counter and picked it up.

"Hello?" I said monotonously, not a hint of apprehension in my voice. Nope, not one little bit.

"Friend! Glorious news!" Kori Anders. The absolute _last_ person I wanted to talk to. Ever hear the expression, "a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down?" Well, Kori is like my spoonful of sugar. Except, she can seem like a bucket at some days, far more sugar than is required and definitely bad for your health. And sanity. But she was, after all, my best friend. Lord knows how or why, but she was.

"I am brimming with glee, I simply must tell you!" And she speaks like a dyslexic 3rd grader. Growing up at some country ending in –akistan, not quite sure if it's Uzbekistan or Kazakhstan, will do that to you. Don't know exactly where she picked up her English either but it sounds a lot like "Phun with Phonics".

"So tell me Kor, I'm just _dying_ to hear the news."

"Oh, please do not, that will certainly dampen the mood." Did I mention she was foreign and completely oblivious to the English language? "But I cannot tell you now, Raven, it must wait until I am to see you?"

"When will that be?" I asked, impatiently tapping my fingernails on the linoleum countertop.

"Oh, I was hoping right now."

"Now?"

"Yes, I am at your lobby." If I had been drinking tea I would have spit it all out. At my lobby? What the hell was she thinking? This _must_ be urgent if she's already here.

"Uh… ye-yeah, sure. Come on up." I stumble through my words as I race back into the living room, picking up stray bits of newspaper and crumpled up balls of writing pad paper. My apartment was a little messy, so sue me. But Kori was an absolute neat freak. I must I'm fairly clean myself but Kori was a monster with a vacuum. If she saw my house in this condition she'd take it upon herself to stay longer and clean it for me. And that ruins my entire afternoon plan of reading and doing nothing.

"Uh, Kor? Call me back from the lobby phone and I'll buzz you in." Swiftly hanging up the phone, I took all of the scattered papers and tossed them into my room, closing the door behind me. After that was done, I ran to the kitchen to grab a towel and wipe the coffee table. That's when the phone rang again; I picked it up, held down 7 and hung up. She'll be here any second now.

Doing a complete 360 of my small cramped living room, I heard a knock at the door. Wow, just in time. I walked over to the door, took a deep breath and turned the knob. I was greeted by the happiest green eyes I've ever seen on a woman and the tightest hug known to man. My eyes shut swiftly in pain and my lung collapses with the lack of oxygen. Well, today's hug was especially tight. Must be _really_ good news.

"Raven! I am so happy!" She slowly let go and I led her into the living room while my breathing returned to normal. She sat, prim and proper, in the edge of my couch as if my entire apartment were crawling in bacteria. Her eyes darted through the living room as her hands fidgeted on her lap and I sat beside her.

"I'm ENGAGED!" She suddenly blurted out, thrusting the back of her left hand in my face. The rock shone like a hundred watt light bulb, probably came close to the size of one too.

"Oh my god, he finally proposed? Let me see that you lucky bitch!" Yeah, it was bit much, but I had to exaggerate. She was my best friend who just got engaged, I couldn't just say 'congratulations, call me before the wedding, I'll see you later' now could I? I grabbed her hand and did my best to look at it with dumb fascination.

"Richard proposed last night at the _Moonlight Lounge_." Typical, the Moonlight Lounge. _Everybody_ goes to the Moonlight Lounge to propose, I think my grandfather went to the Moonlight Lounge to propose. Of course, this was Richard Grayson we're talking about. He's the richest person since Rockefeller but creativity was not his strongest point.

"It was the most magical moment of my life Raven…" Now, this is the part when I should be describing how she went on about what they ate, what they wore, what they talked about and a word-for-word, play-by-play of what he did exactly when he got down on one knee and did the deed. But I'm not going to. I'm sure even Dick himself, who's probably getting ribbed by all the guys, does not want to hear all those details; Lord knows I had enough trouble staying awake through it all.

"Oh friend! Is it not the most marvelous of news?"

"Yes, Kori. It's absolutely great, but don't you have somewhere to be? Maybe lunch with Dick?" I got up and glanced over at the clock then did a double take, it was already 11. I answered the door at 9:30.

"O yes, I must get going. I do have lunch with my _fiancé_." With that she squealed, jumped up and grabbed me into a tight hug. And they said bears could kill.

"Uh… Ok, Kor." She released me from her grasp and bounced, actually _bounced_ to the door. I quickly opened the door and she smiled at me and walked out. I closed the door with a sigh then leaned up against it, totally exhausted.

"I nearly forgot Raven, you will be joining us at Toni's?" A muffled voice asked through the door.

I sighed again, "Yes, Kor. I'll be there. 7:30 sharp."

"Excellent!" And with that I heard her walk away down the hall as I slid down against the door, landing on my butt. So much for a quiet day of reading, it's going to be a long day.

* * *

Sundays were _supposed_ to be my off days. The only days in which I get mostly to myself, save of course for the weekly get together. Monday to Saturday, I'm a freelance writer which means I usually get stuck with the sappy holiday feel-good articles at the major newspapers like the "Star" or the "Post." Once or twice a year I'd get an offer for a permanent position writing stupid crap in sections like the "Community" or "Life Style". I just couldn't imagine myself sitting at a big corporate office, writing schmaltzy home economic articles for the domestic housewife, or husband, on how to get your kids to eat the green vegetables or how to get those nasty wine stains from the carpet for the rest of my life. Needless to say no offers ever appealed to me. 

What I really wanted to do was write. I mean like seriously write novels, plays, poems; anything creative that requires the use of more than half my brain. I've written a few things, poems, novelettes, maybe a play or two, and been told I was pretty good; but I could never really trust the opinion of my friends, they're always out to not hurt your feelings and tend to be biased. At least, I didn't trust them enough to quit freelancing and dedicate all of my time and effort to writing a book. I suppose that constant fear that I'll totally suck, get rejected a few times then have to come crawling back to the superficial but secure world of writing sugar-coated holiday fluff pieces. Not to mention the fact that it doesn't guarantee a paycheck after an article or draft.

I currently lived with the hope that I'll accidentally drop one of my pieces on a café table, all of which have my name, number and address on them, and have a big-time publisher pick it up and call me saying how great it is and how he wants to have me published. Yeah, fat chance.

This week's poison was unfortunately Valentine's Day which was this coming Sunday. By now I've written about 7 of these things and they were all really starting to sound the same. About two years ago, I'd found out that nobody really cares about the holiday pieces. Sure, they'll pick it up, read it, have a good laugh or maybe even have a momentary instant of revelation on what to get that difficult person on their list of what their party was really missing, but that's about it. No one really cares so I've recently started to just resubmit some of my old articles with a few alterations and the editors, or the readers for that matter, were none the wiser.

That is until this recent V-Day assignment. Last week, I had a meeting with the editor a new free newspaper called "The Voice", it was all free speech and all that. They wanted to hire me to write a non-conventional Valentine's Day piece, and I had full creative liberty. I could write about anything and everything I wanted while of course still pertaining to the V-Day theme. I couldn't believe my ears, I was getting full creative license and it was going to be the cover article. Obviously they couldn't pay her much since they were a free paper, the mere fact that they even offered was being extremely generous; they mostly had student journalists on co-op. Just the appeal of being the cover story in _any_ widespread paper in the city was more than enough, especially this being a free paper, making it more accessible to the alternative audience.

But now I'm here, stuck with nothing in my noggin about what to write. I ran all of the ideas over in my head, the satirical point of view, the statistical research article, the serious sad depression piece. None of them were quite what I was looking for. So this Sunday, instead of reading a book, meditating, maybe slipping in a nap or two, I would be working m butt off to cone up with a creative original article idea for that damn over-played Hallmark holiday.

* * *

It was seven when I left my apartment for Toni's, it was only three blocks from my building, and I think I'll make it in time. Toni's has been a longstanding tradition between my 'girlfriends' and I since the old college days. God, saying that makes me feel so old. 

I suppose it all started when Bee, Karen Beecher, first discovered Toni's and his exceptional thin crust pizza. It was Thanksgiving and the four of us really had nowhere to go, none wanting to go back to their families or spend Thanksgiving alone, we all went to Toni's and had pizza. At first it was a strictly Thanksgiving tradition, but when we all found each other once Sunday sneaking away take out, we decided to make it into a it's-the-end-of –the-week-so-let's-bitch-about-our-pathetic-lives event. And so it was written that we would always meet at Toni's on 7:30 on Sundays.

Today was no different. I was always the earliest one there and the one to order due to the massive crush the girls have had on our waiter who incidentally started working when our tradition started, and unfortunately still does. I got to Toni's at 7:15 and nodded to John, the waiter, to give us our regular seats.

"So Valentine's Day is coming up? I should I be looking out for one of your famous articles?" he asked. He was just being sweet, we all knew the boys wouldn't pick up a newspaper unless it was rolled up and used to hit his dog.

"Well," I shrugged, "I'm writing one for a free paper so you could watch for that?"

"Oh?" he continued while laying out the girls' usual drinks. Diet Coke for Bee, Nestea for Kori, Dr. Pepper for Tara, Perrier with lime for me, and a Pink Jinx for Jenn. Jenn was the only one that drank alcohol during our shindigs, and she's had her mix of Grenadine, lemon juice and gin since that first Thanksgiving, so why mess with tradition. I took a sip of my Perrier as John gave me a wink.

"I'll be back when they get here." I smiled back politely and leaned back on my chair, looking out the street-facing window that adorned what was 'our' table. The circular table we'd been sitting at for ages was officially made 'ours' after Toni himself recognized as us as his most loyal costumers. Eight years and neither sleet nor snow has stopped us from gathering here. Toni's itself was relatively small and has improved over the years, probably due to our weekly 'donations.' It had a cozy Tuscan ambience now as opposed to the stereotypical Italian pizza place that it had before. Now Toni's had a lounge area with a fireplace and two couches as well as more business-casual dining areas.

I sat back as I saw Tara enter, led by John. She winked at him flirtily as he walked away and gave him a playful pinch in the butt. He shook his head and went off to the back. I met Tara Markov at my geology class, now you may be asking what I was doing in geology. During my first year in college, I wasn't really sure what I was getting to so I took all of the sciences including geology, halfway through the semester I decided that science wasn't my strength so I switched my major to English Literature, but Tara remained friends. We weren't always friends mind you, for the first couple of months we both decided that we hated each other. I thoughts she was a ditzy, brainless, blonde stereotype and she thought I was a pretentious loner, we were both pretty satisfied with our judgments. That is until Kori came along and insisted we get to know each other, lo and behold we find out that the others wasn't so bad as we had thought and decided to call it a truce. We weren't _best_ friends but we were one step away from mortal enemies.

"Must you do that?" I asked her.

"Aww come on Raven, you know Johnny's a cutie."

"Sure he's cute, but come on, look at the guy. He's worked here since college."

"You know what your problem is? You're too picky. Sometimes you just need to let loose and live little." She leaned back with a smirk, her arms crossed triumphantly across her chest.

"Yeah, Rae-Rae, you're so tight you squeak, girl." Bee. Karen walked in like she always did, with attitude and commanding respect. We had decided long ago that Bee was the most likely person to lead us five into combat in the event of war. She glowed with that kind of air about her, the confidence and wit to go with it. You know, the kind of people you hate to work with 'cause they always make you look bad and lazy but in the eventually learn to love. Yep, that was Bee.

"No I do not!"

Tara and Bee exchanged looks as Bee took her seat taking a sip from her Diet Coke, looking over the rim at me.

"What? I don't, I've gone out with plenty of guys."

"Raven, seeing a hot guy down the street and him smiling at you does not constitute for going out," Tara blurted. Her and Bee burst out laughing at what I knew must have been my face.

"For your information, I've _dated_ a number of guys."

Bee caught herself and said, "Yeah, the blow up kind," and they began again. I rolled my eyes and I plucked out my lime from my drink and squirted it at them.

"Geez, relax Rae-Rae, we're just teasing," Bee said, wiping the lime juice out of her eye.

I cocked an eyebrow at Bee and said, "I told you not to call me 'Rae-Rae'."

"Aww, come on. It's cute."

"Cute is for little kids and puppies."

"And kittens, can't forget kittens." It was Jenn. Geez, was everyone coming in unannounced today? Jenn gave everyone a kiss on the cheek and sat beside me. Jenn, aptly nicknamed Jinx for her favorite drink and accident prone nature back in college was the last person to join our group thus making us the 'Fab Five.' We met her after the Sundays at Toni's rule was established but she quickly fit in with us and we all became instant friends. Jinx was probably the most delinquent of us all. Coming in from the other side of town, Jinx grew up at an orphanage/correction school with four other boys in her ward. She was a good girl in a bad situation and did some things she's not too proud of so we never speak of them.

Johnny walked in with our regular thin crust deluxe pizza and set it on the table. He smiled at us and said, "The gang's almost complete. Where's Kori?" Everyone looked around shrugging and shaking their heads until a left hand popped out from the plant behind John. It donned a diamond ring on its ring finger but enough to put out an eye.

"Oh my GOD!" Tara shrieked and ran over to the hand and its owner screaming and hugging. Then all hell broke loose as the rest of the group rushed over to squeal and congratulate the new bride to be. They were going to spend all night talking proposal details, wedding arrangements and of course, arguing over who the maid of honor was. I watched them wail and screech and I reached for my drink, then about mid-grab I changed my mind and grabbed Jinx's drink, then motioned for John to get me another one. He laughed as he walked away, wiping his hands on his apron and shaking his head.

* * *

I sat there, relatively bored, eating pizza until I felt like vomiting. Not that I didn't want to anyways when they started talking about Valentine's Day. 

"Girl, I don't even know what to do for V-day. I just hopin' Victor doesn't forget or he's gunna get it," Victor Stone was Bee's longstanding boyfriend who she met at school. They had both been taking one class with a particular professor they both hated and love blossomed from there. Though, they haven't been going out since college, it took Victor about 5 years to work up the courage to ask Bee out even though she'd been dropping hints since the day they'd met.

"I'm sure he's got it under control," said Jinx, "Wally on the other hand, he's always in so much of a rush that he probably can't even stop for dinner even if he remembered." Wally West, Jinx's boyfriend, truly did live in a flash. Even their relationship had moved so quickly that within 3 weeks of dating they had moved in together, this was 2 months ago. He was some sort of business executive who graduated from Princeton on a track scholarship. Jinx had joked a few times that it wasn't only is brain and legs that moved fast.

"Well then, I am most happy to inform you that you need not worry. Richard has asked of his uncle to lend us the cottage for next week end!"

"That sounds awesome Kor!" exclaimed Jinx. It truly was. Old Bruce Wayne never let _anybody_ into his cottage. His cottage was bigger than my building and larger than most extravagant houses. It wasn't a cottage, it was a mansion. This engagement must've really meant a lot to him.

"Yes, he said it was to celebrate out engagement and all of you were to join us. We shall drive up to it Friday morning and return Sunday evening." Chatter began around the table, things like, "What am I going to bring?", "Is there still snow up there?" and "Hot chocolate for everyone!" This coming from the people that think Valentine's Day constitutes for a three-day week-end.

"Wait," said Tara, "What about us single gyals?" She asked waving a finger between her and I.

"Dick said you must bring dates," said Kori as if it were the most naturally obvious thing in the world.

I just stared at her, "Must?"

She nodded, "_Must_."

Tara shrugged and leaned back again, "well, we all know _I_ can get a date. But it's Raven here who's gunna need some help."

"Hey!" That was it. I had snapped. No more cracks about me being an antisocial loner, me not having had a date since the swings in kindergarten, not being able to get a man even if I ran outside naked, this was it.

"For your information, I _have_ been seeing guy for the past couple of days."

Tara rolled her eyes skeptically, "Yeah, well you can _see_ guys everyday."

"That's not what I meant. Me and this guy's have been dating." As soon as the words left my mouth I regretted them. What was I thinking? I wasn't dating a guy. I haven't even had a casual conversation with a male since Christmas, and that was just to be friendly.

"You have been dating? Why did you not inform me?" asked Kori, obviously a little hurt.

"Well, I know how you guys make such a big deal when I go out, I just didn't want to go through all that."

Bee leaned in, she hadan inkling for gossip, "Well, does this _guy_ have a name?"

Jinx nodded, "Yeah, and are you serious?"

"Yes he has a name, it's… Mark, Mark Graham. And we're pretty serious." Lying was easy enough, when you're a writer, lying comes to you like second nature. The problem was the complications that it brought along.

"Where did you meet?"

"What does he do?"

"How old is he?" Questions berated me left and right at lighting speed so I raised both my hands in a gesture to stop.

"We met at the groceries, he bumped into my cart and almost toppling over a display of toilet paper. He caught one about to fall on my head and we started talking. He was a nice guy so when he asked me to dinner I said yes…. This was last Tuesday. He's my age and he's a … Botanist."

"A _botanist_?" I received a look from Tara, she wasn't buying it.

"Yea, he studies plants, trying to uhhh… find a cure for cancer." That hit the spot, as soon as I said cure, they all started 'awww'ing, except of course for Tara.

"He sound's great Rae-Rae," said Bee.

"Yeah, what are the chances of finding a nice guy in the city?" asked Jinx. Oh yeah, they were putty in my hands. Mark had completely won them over. I did feel kind of bad for lying to my friends, especially about something as important to them as my love life. But hey, think of it as an unconventional means of teaching to butt out of my business, however immoral it may be.

Tara leaned in and shrugged, "then I don't see why you shouldn't bring him to the cottage next weekend?" She smirked at me and I boldly smirked back.

"Yes Raven, bring this Mark to the cottage."

"Well, I don't' know. Don't you think it's a little soon to be inviting him to over-nights with my friends?"

Tara waved a hand away, "Nah, I'm sure he'll be fine with it. And if he's not. Then I'm sure we can convince him." She was onto me alright. But I couldn't back down now, not when I had the advantage.

"Fine." And with that, I bought the shovel I was gunna use to dig my own grave.

* * *

**A/N: In case you've read my other stuff, you'd notice a difference in the wayI write, as in the tenses I use or in which POV (point-of-view) the story is portrayed. The 1st person POV used in this story is not my preference but I wanted to try it out.You might have also noticed the variety of waysI title my chapters.This timearoundI've decided to have no actual title but a quote underlining the basic gist of the chapter. I will post clues as to the content of the next chapter here using said quotes. **

**CLUE: Never underestimate the importance of that first impression...**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: I went back and changed the preview for the previous chapter because I wanted to change the title for this one. Some may have guessed already how this is going to end, but that's what a romantic comedy is all about, predictability and happy endings. The fun part is getting to know your couple and _how _they get together.**

**Disclaimer: I own neither the Teen Titans nor Starbucks. **

* * *

**Chapter 2**

**Never underestimate the importance of that first impression**

Maybe I hadn't done it. Maybe it was a dream. Yeah, that's it, it was a dream. I could never be that drunk or stupid. To actually tell them that I was romantically involved with someone was a definitely huge brain-fart on my part. What the hell was I thinking?

I mean, sure they always gave me hell. The laughing, the mocking, the criticizing, the 'you're going to end up old and alone' jokes. Just then, the thought having to hold another one of those conversations was more than I could bear. Just thinking about sitting down and telling them I had lied about having an imaginary boyfriend, going so far as to even recount a detailed description of our first 'meeting', makes me want to crawl into a small hole and die. And Tara. Oh, Tara, she'll laugh her ass off then hold this over my head for the rest of my life. She will never, _never_ let me live this down.

I slowly got out of bed, green digital read out of my alarm clock reading 8:47 am, and trudged my way to the kitchen and made myself some herbal tea, the whistle of brass tea kettle breaking the silence of the morning. After the water boiled and I had a few sips, I reluctantly made my way to my laptop on coffee table. I sat down on my couch, cup of tea in hand and found there was a message on my machine. The little red light blinking in my peripheral vision. Sighing I got up and pressed the button:

"Hey Rae-Rae," came the taunting voice of Tara, "Sorry to call so early in the morning but the girls and I were talking after you left last night. We decided to have a little get together before Friday, you know so that it's not uncomfortable for the guys all sleeping under one roof without getting to know each other first. So we're all getting together at the D&B on Wednesday at 6, bring Mark and we'll see you there."

I scowled and deleted the message. Tara's voice resonated in my mind, the way she said Mark, it held disdain. I knew she knew, and she was looking to humiliate me. Damn her. She was going to see to it that I came, without a man by my side, and not only disgrace me in front of the girls but also the guys. Oh she was good, very good. But I was better. I was going to show her.

And just like that- at the mere thought of showing up with a great guy, albeit a guy I made up in my head – I felt better. Because first of all, this wasn't just any guy, he was the perfect guy. Gorgeous, intelligent, successful, caring, sensitive, able to commit and so head over heels in love with me, he doesn't even notice other women in the room. I'm telling you, Jessica Alba could walk by naked and if I'm there, he wouldn't give her a second look. And believe it or not this guy existed, his name was Mark Graham.

So for the next few hours I became completely absorbed in my little plan, planning it all out meticulously instead of working on my article. I was going to hire and actor and pay him to pretend to be my boyfriend from Wednesday until Monday, completely charming my friends in the process, then 'dump' the poor guy on Tuesday because of 'irreconcilable differences'. O yes, this was going to be fun. Every once in a while, I'd stop and think the whole thing was ridiculous, it was a stupid idea with no real credibility and I would never go through with it. Then I'd picture myself having dinner with Tara, her man candy and the rest of the gang, completely humiliated. Permanently alone. I really didn't want to face that reality, so I was going waste a little money and make myself feel better, if only temporarily.

* * *

By lunch I'd created Mark and a beautiful love story with an unfortunately tragic ending. His basic life story was that he was born right here in the big city, perfect because no one could possibly know everybody in this city. His parents were poor, humble people, his father a mailman and his mother a housewife, who, unfortunately, passed away in a car accident a few years ago. Their last dying wish was to see Mark get married and settle down happily with the girl of his dreams. He had worked very hard through out high school to get a soccer scholarship at Princeton where he majored in, what else, botany. He now works privately sponsored by some big drug company, trying to find a cure for leukemia, his grandfather died from leukemia, in exotic plants that are shipped in from Bosnia, where he spent the better part of the past five years. But now he's come back to his home, trying to domesticate his life away from his travels and settle down with the right woman… cue to gaze at me adoringly. 

I liked Mark very much after all of this. Steady, but not dull. Mature, but not boring. Successful, yet adventurous. Maybe he wasn't flesh and blood, but we could do something about that with a bit of money.

* * *

After lunch, a small sandwich and more herbal tea, I began to look through the Yellow Pages for acting agencies. This city was full of aspiring actors, some of which could actually act, convincing themselves that if they keep trying then maybe someday they could get discovered in one of their small plays. I could have just as easily scanned the internet and come up with one in a matter of seconds, but all those poor agencies who couldn't afford to have a website were exactly the ones I was looking for. I ran my fingers through the pages, and searched for the smallest ad. I copied down the numbers of agents with the cheapest looking ads, one in particular leaped out at me: "Mad Moddy's Acting Agency, Making Stars Since 1958." That was the one, I was sure of it. Just looking at the 8 word ad, I wasn't about to hire someone who was going to be on the next issue of _Vanity Fair_. Mad Moddy was probably just some guy from the old days, trying to stay in the game, representing actors who couldn't get signed with anyone else, but desperate to be listed with anybody. 

Mark and I were ready now to make the next leap in our relationship. It was a little scary, and I was nervous, but if anything was going to happen between us, I knew I'd have to make the first move. And it didn't hurt that I kept picturing Tara's laughing head. So with that little bit of encouragement, I sat down and took that crucial first step. I called Mad Moddy. After five rings a man answered with a low, gravelly British accent, sounding more than slightly out of breath.

"Mad Moddy here."

"Yes. Hi. My name is Raven Roth and I'm interested in hiring an actor," he didn't say anything then I heard a choking sound, "Uh, hello?"

"Sorry. I had something caught in my throat. You want to hire an actor? Great. That's great. Can you tell me a little bit about the part?"

"I'm looking for someone to play the part of a successful botanist, about 30 years old. He's extremely handsome, sensitive, intelligent and financially secure."

"Uh huh."

"Now he's not _just_ a botanist. He's a very interesting person in his own right. He travels and is trying to find a cure for cancer. Oh, and he's got a great sense of humor."

There was a pause until, "Anything else?" I could his pencil scratching against a pad.

"He's very, _very_ handsome. Its absolutely crucial to the role. Do you have anybody who's available?"

"Depends, for when?" He's trying to sound as if he's got all of his actors booked.

"Wednesday to Sunday."

"Okay, there are about ten guys who'd be perfect that I can think of right off the top of my head right now." Well, there it was. Women spend God only knows how much money, time, and energy trying to find the right man. But call Mad Moddy, and he's got ten perfect guys for you in less than minutes.

"That's great."

"Now, if I may ask. What's this for? A feature? TV?"

"Uh… well not exactly. You see Moddy, I'm a busy career woman-"

"Ahhh, I understand perfectly. This is one of those business, role playing, conference guest-speaker presentation things right?" Hey, he said it, not me.

"Yes, yes that is exactly what this is." Mad Moddy was just about ready to believe anything.

"Well great, so when do you want to meet him?"

I choked on my tea, "Excuse me, meet him?"

"Yeah, one of those ten guys just happened to walk into my office right now and I quickly handed him a written hand down of your character…. He's nodding yes." Call it a hunch, but I had a stinking suspicion that there weren't ten guys.

"Uh, well. Tomorrow?"

"Yeah, sure. Tomorrow would be perfect."

"Ok, Tomorrow at 1. Starbucks on Main and Gerard St. You know, the one by the Plumbing Shoppe?"

"Yeah, yeah. I got it. He'll meet you there. He'll be the one wearing the brown leather jacket."

"Uh, great."

"Great, tomorrow then, Ms. Roth."

"Wa-wait. Can I get his name?"

"Gar, Garfield Logan"

* * *

The next day I sat at the window seat of the Starbucks two blocks away from my apartment, right by the door so I could see everyone who came in. I had a grande sized herbal tea and about three biscotti's before I realized he was 4 minutes late and that I was anxious. My eyes were jerking from guy to guy and my hands were clammily, one gripping the empty Starbucks cup, nearly crushing it with apprehension, the other annoyingly clicking a pen. I watched as guy after guy came in and out, hopelessly not finding a single man with a brown leather jacket. Until he walked in. 

The guy had a swagger, he wore a faded brown leather jacket and his face was like that of an angel. I sat there with a huge grin on my face when he smiled at me and... walked right past me to peck his girlfriend on the cheek behind me. Damn. I began to lose hope around 1:45 that he was gunna come at all and stopped paying attention to the door. I idly started to doodle on napkins with the pen I had been incessantly clicking.

I suppose this should have been a sign for me. A divine signal from the boss upstairs telling me that what I was doing was stupid. Call it foreshadowing, but he was late 45 minutes. Then I don't know what happened. I saw it coming too, but failed to react properly to the situation. With my elbow jutted out to the side, I accidentally knocked over the newly refreshed cup of tea sitting at the edge of my table. It seemed to go in slow motion, as if mocking me, taunting me about the huge mess it was about to make and the embarrassment I was about to go through, when a hand reached out and grabbed it off the edge, placing it back neatly on the table with only a few drops of spilled tea.

I looked up at my captor and came face to face with the greenest eyes I had ever seen. It was him, he grinned at me and I noticed how sharp his canines were. Good job Raven, meet a cute guy, and the first thing you think is 'his canines are sharp'? His hair was a dirty blonde and messily strewn around his head in a sexy I-just-got-out-of-bed way. The brown leather jacket was there as instructed, it was slightly faded at the elbows and was buttoned right up giving only a glimpse of his forest green v-neck. The way he wore his jacket gave the impression that he worked out, not in excess but at least once a week. His jeans hugged him nicely and in such a way that you could tell he had a cute butt, a cute butt was important to the mission. He stood up fully and time went back to normal.

He offered me his hand to shake, "Hi, I'm Gar Logan? The actor?" I slowly took his hand and nodded my head; I was too busy picturing our children to reply. Well at least Mad Moddy hadn't lied about his looks, but could he act? And if he could, why the hell was he still with Moddy?

"How did you know it was me?" His grin grew and he indicated to my napkin with his eyes. O God. I didn't. I had been subconsciously written his name over and over again and surrounded it with question marks of all shapes and sizes. I was just about ready to die. I'm sure my face turned 5 different shades of red as I tried to recover.

"Oh, that. I was just trying to remember your name." He nodded and gestured to sit down. I nodded and crumpled up the damn napkin and stuffed it into my pocket, probably more aggressively than I would have liked.

"So," he began, "Mod tells me you need a role-player for a business conference." Here's a piece of advice for future reference: In a relationship, it's best to start of completely honest with your partner. Otherwise, you're both in for quite a ride. And not a happy one at that. I nodded my head and took a deep breath.

Then I took leap, "Gar, can I call you Gar?" He nodded. "I'm going to be honest with you. But if I tell you the truth, you're going to have to recognize that I am trusting you and you have to understand my current situation. Don't freak out, don't panic, and don't tell your agent." He turned his head to the side, his eyes never leaving mine. He was confused, and I would be too if I was sitting there talking to myself.

"I'm not looking for a role-player for a business conference. As a matter of fact, I don't even _work_ for a company. I'm looking for a guy… to play my boyfriend in front of my friends." I squinted at that last part, expecting him to burst out laughing and walk away. But he didn't, he just sat there staring at me as if he didn't understand what I just said. His face looked as if there was something on my face and he was trying to figure out what it was.

"Now don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with me and I'm perfectly sane. It's just my friends are very difficult people and…" I sighed, "I'm still going to pay you." With that he seemed as if he snapped out of his trance.

"So, what does this job entail exactly," He said with the same look on his face. I sighed with relief at the fact that he hadn't run away yet.

"Well, a 'date' on Wednesday with my friends and their boyfriends… then an over night to my friends cottage this weekend." He looked down at the table and nodded. O Lord, he thinks I'm crazy. He's just patronizing me and he's gunna say he'll be there and not show up. Leaving me in my own stupid creation.

He continued nodding, "Okay, do you have any other information on the character?"

I raised an eyebrow at him, "Wait, why is this not weird to you? How do you know I'm not playing a practical joke?"

"Are you?"

"No."

"Good, glad to have that out of the way," he shrugged and looked up at me, leaning into the table with his elbows, "I don't find it weird because I understand. Friends can be pretty harsh, even if they're looking out for you. Mind you I've never done such an intimate role with someone with no experience, but it's not impossible. Now how much are you willing to pay me?"

I as taken aback, I hadn't expected him to be so understanding, "Depends, how good are you?"

He leaned back on his chair and laughed, "Okay, okay. Tell me about this guy first."

"Okay, his name is Mark Graham. He's a botanist and is very handsome, intelligent and-" He raised a hand at me.

"I already know that stuff. All of that is surface. I wanna know what makes him tick, what's his goal? His hopes, his dreams, his fears, his nightmares. You know?"

"Yeah, I think I know what you're getting at," I was still skeptical about his openness but decided to just go with it. It is what I asked for after all, damn it. "He grew up here from a poor family-"

"So he's not foreign to struggle."

"No, and his parents were a mailman and a housewife-" He began to get accustomed to interrupting me. I was going to say something but there was a look in his eyes, he was staring past me and looked as is if he was seeing Mark Graham relive his life.

"He would end up being traditional, old-fashioned."

"Yes, and we worked his way through high school, getting a soccer scholarship to Princeton-"

"He's smart, hardworking, determined. He wanted to, make his parents proud. He's kind of a momma's boy."

"Where he majored in botany-"

"Nature-lover. Probably loves animals too."

"For the past five years he's been working in Bosnia looking at exotic plants for a cure for leukemia, because that's what his grandfather died-"

"I can just picture it. Playing in grandpa's backyard. Taking hikes and going fishing with him. He taught him how to respect nature and that there are secrets in plants that others haven't even discovered yet, that's where his love for plants began. Then one day, grandpa's gone, and there's nothing to bring him back. He's devastated and right then and there he vows that he will do his best to make sure another person doesn't have to go through what he has." I swear I had a tear in my eye. Just _hearing_ him say that made me want to hug him. He was so fully committed to his craft that just brainstorming he's already picturing himself as the character. Why was this guy with an agent like Mad Moddy?

"A couple years back, his parents died and their last dying wish was for him to settle down, so-"

"So he came back from Bosnia to look for his soul mate and hasn't found her … until now." I smiled and nodded, amazed by his insight.

"Until now." He smiled back and I swear he had a moment.

He clapped his hands, "Great, so how much are you paying me." Suddenly that moment faded away and I remembered that this was an actor I was hiring to make my more than pitiful life looks somewhat less pathetic.

"I can afford about $150 and appearance."

"What? That's $300," he protested. Good, he'd been paying attention and he picks up quick.

"Why is that a problem?"

"Yes it's a problem. You know I'm not just a guy to show off as arm candy, to make this remotely believable I gotta do my research. What if one of your friends ask a botanic question? There's work to be put in this you know. Plus the second one's two days." I rose up my hands in defeat. God, don't have to have a bitch-fit.

"Okay, okay. I'll give you $150 for the 1st one and $250 for the 2nd one. Which by the way is not two days but three, we leave on Friday." He looked at me as if considering the offer then finally nodded, sticking his hand out to shake on it.

"Throw in food prices and you've got a deal." I took his hand and nodded in return. Stupid actor pricks.

* * *

**A/N: I think Raven was really out of character here, oh well. **

**CLUE: Every solution to a problem creates new problems of its own**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: This felt a little rushed, so I apologize in advance. Oh, and happy Valentine's Day folks. **

**I reposted this chapter and replaced the work 'Alex' with Mark. Let me explain, at the beginning I really wanted to use the name Alex because it seems, at least to me, like the 'perfect guy' name. I also have a friend named Alex who's birthday was on Valentine's Day so that might have been something. **

**And to answer the question why Graham, it seemed like an 'all-american' name that's to too cliche, like Johnson or Smith.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans or Dave and Busters.**

* * *

**Chapter 3 **

**Every solution to a problem creates new problems of its own**

I was pacing. I never thought I'd see the day when I was anxious for a date, even if it was a fake one. I looked at the clock, 5:30. I still had plenty of time.

I had put on a simple combination of jeans and a snug purple cashmere v-neck sweater with all of the baubles and accessories perfectly matching. It was the most effort I put into an outfit in a long time. Now don't let its simplicity fool you, it was a miracle outfit. The one that totally works yet looks as if you threw it together at the last minute. And it didn't do a damn thing to cheer me up, here I was ready an hour and a half early for a date that I had to pay to pretend to go out with me to impress a person I didn't even like. My life was just falling into place.

I thought seriously about cancelling, calling Kori up and telling her the truth. But I'd already paid for Gar and as always with men; my investment was non-refundable. Besides, I could just imagine Tara's smug face of victory. Right now I really didn't want to see her at all, but better to do it with Mark by my side than without him.

Then the phone rang, I let it ring a while and the machine pick it up.

"Hey _Rae-Rae_," speak of the devil, "I was just calling to make sure you were coming. I'm really excited about tonight and I can't wait for you to see my date. I just meet him at the convenient store by my work and he's uber hot. But you can judge that for yourself. Well, see you tonight. And, oh, can't wait to see _Mark_."

She said his name with such sarcasm that I wanted to rip the machine out of the wall then shove it down her throat. Yeah, I know I said that she and I were okay now. Okay, so maybe I lied a little. We hung out together, sure enough but when it came to friendship we weren't the closest. As in so distant that if I had to choose 100 of my favourite people, she'd come in between Marilyn Manson and George Bush.

I sighed and walked over to the full length mirror in my room. The jeans were really tight, and really low cut, so much so that if I raised both my hand everyone would get an eyeful of stomach and hip bone. The v-neck was also pretty low cut, just enough to give a taste of cleavage, the long double looped sapphire necklace drawing more attention to it. It wasn't that I was wearing tight clothes; I wore tight clothes on a regular basis, though _revealing_ tight clothes were another story. I was certainly going to get a lot of confused looks tonight, but once they see Mark they'd understand perfectly.

* * *

Around 6 o' clock, I left the house to pick up Gar. He had told me how he didn't have a car otherwise he'd be driving me. Yeah right. After we established the price for his services and method of payment at Starbucks, we'd talked about his character more. The way he had morphed the minimal amount of information I gave him to create the perfect, but at the same time not cheesy and clichéd, guy was astounding. I figured that if I had given him a pen and a pad of paper he could have written a biography on Mark Graham. When I asked him about how he got good at creating a back story he simply shrugged and said, "Character development workshops. Essential for serious actors."

Although, other than his amazing creativity and 'character development' skills, the guy was a total asshole. He kept asking about how my friends will react to meeting Mark for the first time, how much my friends knew about Mark, how I'd met Mark, how I felt about him, what I wanted to get out of the relationship, How attracted I was to him, had we slept together yet it felt like going to a couples counsellor without actually having a significant other. By the end, I was so damn sick of hearing about Mark I felt like I'd known him all my life. It felt like a real commitment. Finally, to end off the meeting, he had insisted that I pay for his drink and walked away without as much as a nod of acknowledgement.

Gar was waiting for me at the lobby of his apartment building. The moment I saw him, my depression started to lift. I'd forgotten how drop-dead gorgeous he was. But before, he'd merely been a good-looking struggling actor. Now-I wasn't sure how, it was more than just clothes and hair-he looked exactly like a twenty-nine year-old, gorgeous, successful, adventurous, sensitive, caring, Raven-adoring botanist. This was a man I would gladly parade in front of my friends to be poked and prodded all to make me look better. This _was_ the man I was going to parade in front of my friends to be poked and prodded all to make me look better. And he was mine, all mine. I had the MasterCard cash withdrawal receipt to prove it.

"Wow," I told him as he got in the car, "You look great. I mean you did it. You _are_ Mark. It's everything. The way you hold yourself, the clothes..." He was wearing faded carpenter's jeans with a dark brown crew cut sweater and a black blazer over everything. He looked professional but fun, like a guy who could show you a good time but not break your heart in the morning. He was perfect.

I didn't know why, but I kept talking, I think it was my nerves. I was afraid I'd get caught and make a bigger ass of myself than before.

"You really put a lot of thought into this didn't you? I thought you were going to drive me crazy with all those questio-"

Gar held up a hand and shook his head, his gaze never left the road, "raven, thank you, but I need to stay in character when I'm this close to a performance. It's crucial that from this point on you not refer to me as Gar. Wait until you're ready to talk to me as Mark. And only Mark."

"Oh, Okay. I guess I'll wait until we actually get there then." It was probably nothing, just some neurological actor thing.

Just then, he placed his hands squarely on his knew and inhaled loudly. Then exhaled loudly. Slowly, loudly. Over, and over and over and over again. All the way to D&B, never missing a beat, never changing rhythm. I looked over at him, eyebrow raised. Yep, definitely a neurological actor thing.

* * *

What seemed like twenty thousand loud, irritating breaths later, we got to the D&B. D&B was short for Dave and Busters, a large chain of arcade/bars. A sort of Playdium for grown ups. The D&B was notorious for being the prime first date location. It was fun and loud on the midway, and then if you wanted some private time you could rent a pool table and play a little one on one. You even had the choice of fast food or more casual dining. So it was no big surprise that Tara wanted the multi-date to be at D&B.

Gar – or excuse me, Mark– opened one eye and when he realised that we were here he stopped breathing, not stopped breathing entirely but stopped annoyingly breathing. I pulled up to the curb and as soon as the car stopped her got out and closed the door. I rolled my eyes, typical, and waved down the valet. I realised that showing him off was going to be easy, dealing with him was another story.

I got out of the car, let the valet boy take care of it and saw Mark standing there. Mark, not Gar. He stood with a huge smile on his face, one hand in his jeans pocket, the other reaching out for my hand. I smiled back and let him take it. Wow, what a change in personality. It really is amazing how actors can just turn it on like that. I leaned into his arm as he squeezed my hand affectionately and we both walked in.

Immediately we were hit with high squeals. Kori and Dick Came just before us and were still in the main hall. As soon as Kori saw me, she squealed and ran over, engulfing me in her vice grip.

"Raven! I am so glad you could make it," she released my grip and glanced over at Mark then back at me, giving me a small wink. Of course, small wink to Kori meant the most obvious wink known to humanity.

"Hey Kor, glad to see you too. I want you meet somebody, Kori, this is Mark. Mark this is Kori." Kori smiled and nodded at Mark, he smiled back and politely stuck his hand out for a hand shake. Which was taken by Dick who looked at him with and eyebrow raised behind his sunglasses. Dick always wore sunglasses. If anyone ever asked, he'd claim he had sensitive eyes. Sensitive eyes were one thing but this was ridiculous. We all knew he only did it to look cool.

I watched as Dick firmly shook Marks hand, "Hi, I'm Richard Grayson. Kori's fiancée." Gar didn't waver at all; he just smiled politely and nodded at recognition once he heard his last name.

"Richard Grayson? You mean heir to the Bruce Wayne fortunes? Absolutely pleased to meet you. I'm Mark Graham." He pulled it off with such ease, such grace that didn't show one bit of intimidation but at the same time didn't come off as too ass-kissy.

Dick nodded, impressed, "Nice to meet you too Mark, and call me Dick." The two guys immediately shared a bond of respect. Dick quickly grabbed Mark around the shoulders, perfect because they were both about the same height, and led him towards the midway, talking about he really dislikes being linked to the Wayne inheritance because it intimidates people. Kori and I exchanged glances, that was a flat out lie, he loved to use his money to earn respect.

Kori looped her arm around mine, "Raven, he is… what you say? Delicious?" I laughed out loud and let her lead me in the same direction as our men.

* * *

When we all got to the midway, Mark had taken hold of my hand again, appearances, appearances, and Kori hand dragged Dick ahead of us, leaving me to speak with Mark.

"That was great, I really think-"

"You think too much girl." I heard the distinctive diva voice of Bee behind me. I turned around with a smile and greeted her with a kiss to the cheek. Behind her was Victor, her boyfriend whom I playfully waved to, and Jinx dragging Wally away from a racing game. Victor walked over, placed a hand on Bee's shoulder and leaned in, expecting a kiss from me. I smiled at him and kissed him on the cheek too. Jinx succeeded grabbing Wally and bringing him over as well.

Bee silently gave Jinx a look and indicated with her head at Mark, "Hey Rae-Rae, who's this handsome arm candy of yours?" For some reason, I blushed and reached behind me to bring Mark over.

"Bee, Vic, Jinx Wally, this is Mark Graham. Mark, these are the rest of my friends." He beamed charmingly at them, gaining looks from the women and the men, although entirely different looks.

Jinx was quick to stick out her hand in a handshake, "Heya, I'm Jenn but call me Jinx," she gave him a playful wink, "And this is Wally." He in turn shook Mark's hand.

Bee stepped up next, "I'm Karen, but call me Bee. This guy here is my puppy, Victor. We've heard so much about you Mark." Mark chuckled and took their hands.

"I've heard a lot about you guys too, Raven almost never runs out of stories to tell." Bee raised and eyebrow at me.

"Oh? And, pray tell, what stories?" She leaned in and gave me a look of approval.

"Nothing bad I assure you," I said.

"Hey, where's Kori and Dick?" Victor piped in. As if on cue, in came Kori with Dick in tow. And after all of the proper introductory greetings, we all made our way to the restaurant area where our private table was waiting. We sat in our circular table each ordering our own drinks. Mark and I sandwiched between Kori and Dick and Jinx and Wally. Bee and Vic sat on the other side of Wally and Jinx, and then I realised there were two empty seats.

"Where's Tara?" I asked.

"She will be coming at 8, she said she ran into a bit of automobile difficulties," replied Kori.

"Well, let's not worry about who's not here. Let's worry about who is here," with that Bee leaned across the table and rested her elbow on the table, "So Mark, tell us about yourself."

"Well, depends, how much you want to know," He smiled affectionately at me and turned back to Bee, "Well, as you probably know, I'm a botanist."

"Yea, how interesting could _that _possibly be?" Jinx kissed her teeth and elbowed Wally in the stomach for his rude comment.

"Shut up Wally." Mark just laughed.

"It's okay Jinx, I understand. I guess botany doesn't sound all that interesting, like how much fun could working with plants be right? But it depends really on what your goal is, and how much passion you put into your work."

"I am sorry Mark, I don't believe I understand what you mean," chimed Kori.

He nodded, "Well, me for example, I work as you might already know to find a cure for cancer. Leukemia specifically. Now there are… personal reasons as to why, which I won't bore you to death with details but I found that working towards that has been my tyrant. I wake up every morning thinking about it and go to bed thinking about it," he looked at me and smiled. I swore he had tears in his eyes as well as Kori and Bee's.

"It's like a relationship, "he continued, "You have wake up every morning thinking about her and go to bed thinking about her." He gazed at me affectionately and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. I playfully pushed his stomach and heard a sound of someone clearing their throat. I looked up and there was Tara and her date, standing behind Mark and me.

"Sorry to interrupt, but Wilson and I got stuck in traffic." She quickly went over to the two empty seats and greeted every one. Then she got to Gar. She had a certain look in her eyes that I had seen before, it read 'head for the hills Raven 'cause he's with you now but he'll be with me by the end of the night.' She looked him up and down, nodding approvingly, and then leaned right across the table sticking out her hand, giving everyone an eye full of cleavage. But Mark, good old loyal Mark, stared straight at her eyes and his never wandered down to no man's land.

"And who might you be?"

"Hi, I'm Mark. Raven's boyfriend." And I beamed brighter than the sun, which is in its self quite an accomplishment. I couldn't believe my ears, he called her out. He saw what she was doing and called her out. I _loved _this guy.

"Yes, well," Tara sat back down looking defeated, "I'm Tara, and this is Wilson, my date." Wilson was quite a large man. I mean, I thought Victor was large, but this guy was _huge_. He looked extremely intimidating and very tough. His hair was white-ish and was long enough to hold back in a ponytail. He was handsome, but not in the model like handsome of Mark, more of a ruggedly handsome, especially with his crooked nose, which looked as if it had been broken a couple of times. He looked like he has been in a couple of bar fights; a couple of bar fights a week, along with a couple of broken chairs over his back.

"Hi," he said with an edge in his voice. A sort of gruffness that said, 'I don't want to talk.' But good ol' Mark, just smiled and nodded.

* * *

With dinner finished and all of that unbearable small talk over with, the guys decided to get us all pool tables, using the opportunity to get to know Mark and the newly introduced Wilson. And us girls stayed back and waited patiently for our men. Yeah right, we did what any group of girls in a group date would do, we gossiped. Mostly about my Mark. I really liked the sound of that, _my_ Mark.

He had spent the entire evening entertaining everyone. Impressing the women with his adoration of me and willingness to commit, and at the same time wowing the guys with his international exploits. He combined charisma and charm with wit and anecdotes, he didn't speak out of turn or when he wasn't spoken to, nor did he go on long rants and monologues. All in all, he came off as a humble, down to earth yet perfect, guy. And he had everyone impressed.

"My God Raven, where did you find this guy?" asked Bee.

"Yeah, he seems too good to be true, but here he is. And need I mention how _gorgeous_ he is?" added Jinx, all the girls nodded in agreement.

"I simply love his stories about his grandfather and his journeys in Bosnia. They are quite thrilling," said Kori. Mark had talked about his grandfather and whenever he would, _Gar_ would look as if he were trying to keep up a happy face but was really hurting inside. What was amazing was nothing he did seemed overly cheesy.

"Yeah, wow. Bosnia, I couldn't even pinpoint that on a map," said Bee, "He's really…"

"Cultured," finished Jinx.

"I am so very happy for you Raven!"

"Yeah, ecstatic." Tara had sat back after Mark's brush off and sulked for the rest of the evening. It wasn't everyday when a man could ignore two breasts dangling right in front of him. They were her strongest weapon and right now she was shooting blanks.

We heard the boys coming back and I felt two hands rest firmly on my shoulders. I looked up and saw Mark beaming at me and the others when he leaned down.

"Rae sweetie, let's go play some pool." I rested my hand on top of his and smiled back, standing up. Bee gave me an excited look and got up as well.

* * *

As the night grew on, Mark got along better and better with the rest of the guys. He had managed to gain Dick's trust and got on Wally's good side. But he and Victor got along the greatest, by the end of the evening they seemed as if they'd known each other for years. Tara on the other hand had spent a fair amount of the night trying to get his attention. He would give it for a second then look back at me. Did I mention hosw great this guy was?

But the thing that got me the most was exactly _how_ mush attention he paid me. He would always come to get me if I weren't in the conversation and smile and wave at me from across the room. And the touching, as if we were actually dating. He would constantly grab my hand and drag me or wrap and arm around my waist. At one point he even asked me to play a one on one game with him. This caught me entirely by surprise mostly because I didn't know how to play pool. No matter how much I tried to tell him I can't he would just grab my hand and drag me over to a table.

He smiled and said, "Here, I'll teach you." Then grabbed me by my waist and stood behind me while holding the stick in front of me. He showed where to place my hands and how to position myself to get an accurate shot. And, I'm afraid to say it, had a good time. I don't believed I'd ever smiled so much in one evening, I even laughed aloud once when one of my balls hopped and bounced right off the table. It was a miracle.

What made the night even more enjoyable was that it wasn't at all for Tara. Her date hadn't gotten along as well with the guys, especially with Dick, and it seemed that I was having more fun than her, which he absolutely hated. All in all, a great night.

"How'd I do?" Asked Gar as we got in the car. We had to wait about 20 minutes outside in the cold as the valet found our car. Thankfully, Bee and Vic were still there also waiting for their car. Mark kept his arm around me the whole time and kept asking if I was too cold.

"You were awesome," I said as I pulled out of the driveway, "I couldn't believe it. I think you even got them tearing up once of twice with the stories of your grandfather. Genius."

"Well," he said as he stared out the window, "Your friends are generally amazing people. They weren't too hard to work with."

"Yeah, they're great. It may seem as if I don't appreciate them enough, but I wouldn't know what I would do without them."

He turned his head and looked straight at me, "Then don't you feel bad at all about lying to them?" Ouch. Brutal honesty. That was a question I would think about for the rest of the night. I know I didn't care whether I lied to Tara or not, but Kori? Kori, Jinx and bee, they didn't deserve to be lied to. O great, the actor gets to my conscience. We ride in silence for the rest of the drive back and I dropped him off at his apartment again.

He got out of the car and leaned in through the open window and looked me ight in the eyes, "I really had a great time."

I smiled back, "Yeah, that's what I paid you for."

* * *

**A/N: CLUE: **The longer a couple is together, the easier it becomes to embarrass each other in public 


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Sorry for the wait. I'll explain below, first the story.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans, Hershey Kisses or anything else I may have forgotten.**

_

* * *

_

**Chapter 4**

**The longer a couple is together, the easier it becomes to embarrass each other in public**

Ahhh… You know the feeling you get when you had a good night's rest, and by 'good night' I mean a full 8 maybe even 10 hours of sleep, that well rested, ready for a new day, able to face the challenges head on and all those horrid clichés. Yes, well that's the kind of feeling getting back from a good, albeit fake, date can give you. I woke up bright and early and padded my way to the kitchen to boil some water and have a little cup of tea before I got down to work.

Then right there, in between pouring the hot water into my cup and taking that first sip, I got a brainwave. That was it! Why hadn't thought about before? It was perfect. The front page Valentine's Day article was just sitting on my coffee table, gathering dust and festering until I finally got my act together and wrote it in full. And now I just got the inspiration I needed to write what may be the best thing I've ever written.

'Making Mr. Right – One woman's quest to find that special someone'

It was perfect, I would write about my experience with Gar. Right from conception to the final coup de grace when I 'break up' with him on Sunday, the readers would know every intimate detail. Names of my friends would of course be changed for their privacy and perhaps even Gar's. It was a great idea, a humorous Valentine's Day article without all the sugar coated crap, one hundred percent real. And an added bonus, if men were to pick this up and read it, they would only have to study Mark's behavior to see what women were looking for in men. It was a sort of two in one satire and self-help article. Excellent.

I got to writing quickly, right there on my laptop, in my PJ's on my sofa. I got so into it, recalling the first time and reason as to why Mark came up in the first place, that I bypassed lunch and didn't even notice. It was about 3 in the afternoon when I realized that I wouldn't be able to finish the article now, not with the weekend still to come. I couldn't just fabricate the break up, it wouldn't be real enough. It would have to be the real thing, public and in front of all my friends. Now it was a matter of calling the paper and asking them to make it into a two part article.

* * *

That did it; this was officially a very good day. I mean right up there with birth and grad. I had woken up to an excellent morning, wrote a very well done article _and_ got the editor of the paper to make it a two part series. Although, the second part wasn't going to be the cover, just advertised on it. But that didn't matter, I would hook 'em with the first part, then reel 'em in with the conclusion.

Jumping off the couch with as much bounce as I'd allow myself, I made my way back to my room to get packing for tomorrow. I threw open my closet and sighed. Packing wasn't something I could get excited about. So I made a deal with myself, go out for a jog, drop off the article at the post office, express delivery only, and then get back home, take a shower, and _then_ start packing. I looked at the clock, 4:15. Yep. It was a good plan.

I didn't even realize that as I was changing to go for a jog that I was humming 'One Fine Day' by the Chiffons in my head. I don't know what surprised me more, the fact that I was humming or that I was humming a song that my parents would have danced to. Either way it very out of character for me and if I were to be seen by any of my friends they would check my temperature. But what did I care? It _was_ a good day. A good day in what has been a relatively bad year.

Did I mention how great a feeling coming back from a good date was?

* * *

Gar called later that evening. After the jog and during my shower. _During_. I was half way through shampooing when the phone annoyingly rang. I cursed it to the furthest end of the universe, that is until I realized I took out the tape in the answering machine and there would be nothing to catch the message. So I groggily got out of the shower, dripping wet and my hair still soapy, to go answer the goddamned phone.

"What!" I nearly screamed into the phone.

"He-hello? Raven?" O god it was him.

"Garfield?" I wasn't sure what it was, maybe it was the fact that I hadn't talked to man while I was only wearing a towel before, but the idea of talking to Gar naked brought a fierce blush to my cheeks. The ones on my face.

"Yeah, hi. Uh… sorry a-are you busy?"

"No." Why was I lying? _Of course_ I was busy. I was standing in my living room, with a towel messily thrown around my wet body and I just told him I wasn't busy.

"Great! I, uh, was wondering if you'd eaten yet…" Dinner? I glanced at the clock, it was almost 6. Had I missed another meal?

"No I haven't actually."

"Cool, I was wondering then if you wanted to get a bite to eat. You know, us two…" An awkward silence filled airwaves.

He coughed, "Uh…y-y'know. To go, ahem, over the game plan for this weekend." I heard him swallow hard. What the heck was going on? Was there a practical joke behind this meeting?

"Ok, sure. But I might be a while, I still have to shower and pack for tomorrow."

"Y-yeah, sure. So how does 8-ish sound?"

"Sounds okay," I raised an eyebrow. He was acting odd.

"Good, okay. Do you know Red's? Down on Queen, by King?"

"I know the place."

"Alright then! I'll meet you there at 8!"

"Yeah, see you then." Then I hung up. Walking back to the shower, I found myself thinking whether I sounded too harsh.

3 minutes later I got out of the shower for the second time, this time actually ready to leave. I went over to my room to pack up my clothes, and stood in front of my closet staring for about an hour. It wasn't what I was going to pack that was hard chose. That was easy enough. I just took two jeans, two jogging pants, a skirt, you know just in case the situation called for it, three shirts, one big shirt to sleep in, booty shorts to go under the shirt, two sweaters and a pull over. It may seem like much for a three day week end, but when so much is at stake, I needed to be prepared.

No, what took me so long to decide was what I was going to wear to dinner. It was weird, I knew it was just Gar but for some reason I didn't want him to see me look like a slob. But I didn't want to dress to the nines either. I wanted to look casual but in such a way that said 'I look this good all the time.' I didn't know why I was being so picky; Lord knows I wouldn't dress up to go out with my friends. I wasn't even this picky going to a job interview. What the hell was wrong with me?

After a while, I decided on a black shirt with jeans and a corduroy beige blazer, the kind with a hood on it that gives the impression that there's a hoodie underneath. I quickly put my hair up into a messy bun and ran out the door, realizing that it was 7:55 and Red's wasn't exactly just down the street.

I don't go to Red's much. For one, it's on the other side of the city; it takes me about 20 minutes by car to get there. Also, it was one of those fancy business-cas (casual) dinner places where sales people took their clients to show that they were down to earth but at the same time still classy. I had to say though, it was a nice place. They had the theme of an old 50's style diner but set inside what was an old warehouse renovated into many smaller stores, so instead blinding white or nauseating yellow walls, there were dark brick walls. The lighting was also pretty toned down, no fluorescent bulbs, instead were small halogen lamps hanging from the ceiling, which was quite high up I must say.

I walked in the front door and immediately thanked God that there was no dress code. Though there could have been, all around me were women in dresses and nice pants. And here I was in jeans and a blazer, great job Raven. I walked right up to the hostess when I saw Gar waving at me behind a 50's style red booth. I smiled back and nodded to the hostess that someone was expecting me. She smiled and gave me a nod in return of approval.

I walked over to the booth and Gar got up, taking my hand and guiding into my side as if I were a 5 year old, all the while grinning hugely. Why did this feel so much like a date? Snap out of it Raven, it's not. It's a business meeting between partners.

"Hey, glad you could make it in such short notice. Sorry, I was just really busy all day and I wanted to go over the weekend plan with you. 'Cause, y'know, we probably won't have time to go over there and regroup because so many people are watching." He said, he leaned back and stretched an arm across the back of the bench. He was wearing a white long sleeved shirt that had a bark blue floral pattern on the left shoulder, not floral as in girly but… well yes, floral as in girly. But, he pulled it off quite… well, I suppose.

"Yeah, that's fine. I'm kinda glad you called, I hadn't even thought about eating before it." I noticed his eyes light up.

"Well, we don't have to be completely formal about this. We could order dinner first and then talk."

"If you don't mind, I think that the weekend will be big. And, O… it almost slipped my mind. I have something to ask of you…" I detailed him on the article and saw the liveliness in his eyes die down.

"Raven, I'm not sure if you should do that."

"Why not?"

"I already told you before, I'm not sure friends will appreciate being lied to let alone making it public gossip."

"I'm not using their real names. I'm not even using your real name." He shook his head.

"That's not the point. Do you even plan on telling them?"

"Well, I hadn't tho-"

"Well you better. Listen Raven, I'm all for boosting your self esteem and everything and _I'm_, _I_, am willing to play along with your article gig. I don't really care if you use my name or not. I'm worried about your relationship with your friends. These are people you've known forever and you're willing to exploit that? And for what?" There was a log pause. I tore my gaze away from his intense green eyes and played with the napkin in front of me. He was right, of course he was right. I had been going on about this for my own selfish needs and not once thought about my friends.

"I know what you're saying, but can't you understand? It's too late to go back on this now. I can't."

"Can't or won't." Not exactly sure what it was but there was something in his voice that pissed me off.

"Excuse me? What are you saying? Are you saying that I'm such a self-centered person that I would willingly continue this, 'cause that's what it sounds like," I was chewing him out now.

"Maybe that is what I'm saying."

"Don't act all high and mighty with me because in case you forgot, I am _paying_ you to do this, Mr. Snooty-Actor. If it went against your moral grain so much then why take it?"

"Maybe because I need to," his voice rose a little, "Huh? Ever thought of that? Ever try to get an audition in this damned city? It doesn't matter if you have the talent or even the looks. You gottta be lucky, and unfortunately I haven't been so lucky. So if I didn't need this money to survive, then yes maybe I would back away from it."

But I kept arguing back, it was an awful story but I fought back, "Well maybe you shouldn't have tried to become an actor in the first place. It's too late to go back on this, the article was sent in two hours ago." I sat back on my chair in a huff, my arms crossed over my chest. I don't know how he got such a rise out of me. How he got me so angry, but he did. And I bit back, boy did I. Somewhere in the back of my head I was afraid I may have gone too far. Then I looked up to see his face, turned away from me hurt, and I knew I had gone too far.

The rest of the night was awful to say the least. Never again did he look me in the eye again and we just talked about the plan for the weekend. He didn't talk much either, I would get an occasional "mmhm" or "sure" but that was it. No long arguments about his character, no extended questions about the situation. Just a nod of the head and a shrug of the shoulders. It ended quickly and we didn't say good bye.

* * *

I decided with Gar the night before that I would pick him up at 9:30 then meet up with the gang at 10 at a gas station. I drove by his apartment building to find him standing at the lobby with a small black duffel bag. Wow, that's it? I had to bring an entire suit case, maybe it had something to do with him being a man. I know it's a little sexist but, hey, the truth is the truth. He stood there, one hand in his pocket the other holding his bag, looking absolutely beat. He still looked like Mark, still walked like Mark, but his eyes said Gar. I couldn't quite place my finger on it.

"Hey," he said as he stepped into the car after throwing his bag into the trunk. He looked at me and gave a weak smile. I smiled back and drove away to the agreed gas station. Not a word passing between us. I waited for him to start his breathing exercises but they never came. He just kept staring out the window, his chin against his fist. I wanted to ask what was wrong, but I already knew.

Twenty minutes later we showed up at the gas station at the outskirts of the city. It was a small station with two old fashioned pumps. Everyone was already there waiting.

"Come on girl, hurry your slow ass up," yelled Victor from his car. I could see Bee beside him on the phone.

"Nice to see you to Vic," I smiled at him and waved at Bee, They both waved back and I noticed Vic give Mark a wink and a thumbs up. He smiled back.

"Raven! I am glad to see you have arrived. May we proceed in the traveling now?" Kori had stuck her entire upper body out of the passenger side window of Dick's van. In the back I could see Jinx and Wally canoodling. Dick, cool as usual, was wearing his sunglasses, one arm hanging out of the window.

"Okay, okay. God it's like you haven't seen each other in years. Let's get a frikkin' move on!" yelled Tara from her car. She was wearing glasses and had a scarf around her neck at an attempt to look 50's glam. Keyword: attempt. In her back seat sat, or I should say lay, Wilson, who look like he was resting from a hangover. He was fast asleep, snoring no doubt, in the back.

Dick gave a military type signal with his hand to indicate we were leaving and I saw Kori reach over and honk the horn three times, dragging the third one out. Every one gave respective cheers from their cars and began the three hour drive to the cottage.

* * *

It was about 1 o' clock when we got there. I personally haven't seen the said cottage but have heard very much about it. Needless to say you can't believe what everyone says. It was _twice_ as huge as I heard. It wasn't even a cottage anymore, it was a mansion.

"Alright guys, bedroom plans," called out Dick as we stepped into the foyer. Honestly, what kind of cottage has a foyer? "Kor has drafted out a floor plan for everyone showing each your designated rooms." Kori very happily gave every couple a sheet of paper then went back to Dick's side where he grabbed her waist and pulled her closer to him.

"Friends, of course, we shall have the master bedroom," giggled Kori. I looked down at the paper in my hands, Mark holding both my shoulders peeking over. It was huge, the bedroom we were assigned had a lake view, yes, and according to the floor plan was bigger than my apartment. Across from us were Bee and Vic; to our right were Wally and Jinx. Across from them were Wilson and Tara and beside them both, spanning the space of all of our four bedrooms combined was the master bedroom. Holy shit.

I looked up and found that everybody had gone. Apparently I was basking at the enormity of the cottage for so long that everyone decided to unpack.

"Let's go Rae," Mark called out from behind me. I saw him standing with a huge grin on his face carrying both his duffel bag and my suitcase, "I wanna go check out our room."

* * *

"Well… this is, quite… romantic," stated Gar as he walked into the room. I peered in and held back a gasp. Romantic was an understatement. The room looked like cupid's bedroom; pink and red hearts all over the place. The bed was a very large King adorned with what looked like a thousand rose petals and little Hershey Kisses. Gar walked in and set the bags by the dresser. I followed, a little lagging, and made my way over to the bed. Yep, they were rose petals.

Picking up a handful I turned to Gar, "Methinks she had a lot of time on her hands."

"Yeah, this looks like a honeymoon suite," I heard him open a door, "Oh Lord, we get our own bathroom." I turned around and ran over to where he was/ Lo and behold, there it was. The biggest washroom I had ever seen.

"This is bigger than my apartment," I heard him say. The bathtub looked more like a hot-tub that could fit five people. There was a shower at the corner with a removable head and sliding glass doors, and get this, two sinks. _Two_.

"Mine too," I whispered. He quickly turned around and I watched as he plopped on the bed backwards. He winced a little and I smirked as he pulled out a couple of pointy Kisses from underneath him. He laughed at himself, spread his arms out and stared up at the ceiling. I wasn't sure what it was, the bed or the setting or the rose petals all over the place, but I wanted to lie down right beside him. Then I mentally slapped myself.

"This is the greatest bed I have ever been on," he said closing his eyes, "Call the bed!"

My own eyes snapped wide open and stared at him, "What do you mean you 'call the bed'?"

He smirked and propped himself on his elbows, "I called it first, that means I get to sleep in it."

"What are you five?" I gave him a look of disbelief and noticed the shame flash across his face, giving him a smirk of my own, "And besides, she's my friend so I get the bed." I ran to the bed and pushed him off, lying down on it. He was right, the best bed ever.

He rose, dusting himself off, "Now how is it fair that you get to pull that? I called it first! Besides there's no couch for me to sleep on, I'll have to sleep on the floor."

I raised an eyebrow at him, "So you plan on putting _me_ on the floor?" He gave me a little smile that said, 'why not?' and I chucked a pillow at him. There were Kisses and rose petals all over the floor. He caught it and chucked it back at me. At this point, I couldn't help but wonder why in the name of all that is good am I acting like a hormonal teenager? I thought I passed that stage years ago. Absolutely final about my decision not to have a pillow fight with my 'boyfriend', I grabbed the pillow and walked over to my luggage, clutching it underneath my arm like a teddy bear.

"Fine," I said, "You can sleep on the bed. I'm sure two mature adults can sleep in the same bed together." Ha!

He shrugged, "You're right, I mean the bed's big enough and there are enough pillows to create a border." I rolled my eyes, wondering whether he was serious or kidding. Maybe I didn't want to know. I continued to drag my bag over to the dresser.

"Uh, do you need help with that?" he asks. Do I look like I need help? I'm _dragging_ a suitcase instead of _carrying_ it, yeah, I think I may need help. But was I too damn stubborn to ask for it or even acknowledge that I did? Hell no. Damn sure did wish I bought the ones with wheels though. Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder and the load on my arms lift a bit. I turned to see him smiling and carrying the bag for me.

"I had it." He rolled his eyes and carried it over to the dresser and propped it on its side, bowing cordially, like an asshole. I stuck my tongue out and shoved him over, setting off to unpack my stuff and load it into the drawers. Somewhere behind me, I heard him unzip his own bag and begin to load stuff into drawers across the room.

Finishing up, I heard the shrilling sound of Kori's cheery voice, "Friends! We must commence in the merriment of Valentine's Day." I groaned aloud, should've known she's planned stuff. She probably had games and prizes too. I swear that girl never grew up. Sighing, I stood up and walked out the bedroom door, forgetting entirely that there was someone else in the room.

I wandered blindly into the living room of the cottage and found Kori sitting on Dick's lap, giggling and whispering sweet nothings into his ear. They were on an armchair while across from them were Wilson, Tara, Wally, and Jinx all squished on a sofa. There was one love seat left which was quickly occupied by Bee and Vic who raced from behind me and were now pushing and shoving each other on the love seat, complaining about room. I rolled my eyes and shook my head at their immaturity and leaned a hip against the back of their love seat.

"So, how you guys liking the rooms?" Dick asked.

"Rooms? You mean the suites? Yeah, they're great," replied Jinx.

"Did you enjoy the surprises I left in your rooms?" giggled Kori.

"They were really sweet of you Kori, it was a nice little surprise," came a voice behind me. I turned around before I realized it was Mark. He was smiling politely and came over where I was standing and leaned a hand against the loveseat behind me, his arm across my back.

Kori clapped her hands together in delight, "Excellent friends! Now we must commence in the Valentine's Day celebrations."

"Yeah, and afterwards, we're having a little sort of barbecue in the back," added Dick. He nodded to Mark, "Hey Marky-boy, have you seen the back?"

Mark smiled, "yeah, I caught a glimpse of it from the window at the room." Window? He was looking out the window? When?

"Twelve acres, twelve acres along with afive acre man made lake," boasted Dick with an air of confidence. Mark nodded politely and made a whistling sound.

"Yep, we should go take a hike, just us guys. You would know a lot about hiking right? What will all you experience in Bosnia, right?" Oh, shit. What was he going to say? I prayed right there and then that Gar had _some_ experience in the woods or all of the guys would be screwed. None of the boys had even set foot in a forest let alone go hike in one, they were all city boys.

"Yeah, sure! I think that'd be great. The conditions I hiked in were different; probably more humidity and a different sort of ecosystem, but the basics are the same." Dick smiled and gave him a thumbs-up while Kori rose and signaled me to join her in the kitchen. Wow, he must've done his homework because that was pretty gutsy.

Kori brought me to the kitchen to ask me to carry boxes wrapped in V-Day wrapping paper. She gave me wink and brought them out to the living room again. Let the celebrations commence.

* * *

As in typical Kori fashion, we played games that you would in a five-year-old's party. The boxes she brought out were 'toys' in boxes which you had to shake and guess what was inside. Mark and I won 'love-cuffs' and both turned thoroughly red. After that Kori whipped out a board game called "Battle of the Sexes" which was actually fun in its own right. Needless to say, we kicked the men's butts and they sorely lost making appalling accusations that we were cheating. Us, _cheat_? No.

Following that was a snack break where Kori brought in heart-shaped, of course what other shapes would they be in, cookies and coffee. This is where the guys, and some of the girls, all started having a competition on who could stuff the most cookies down their throats in 30 seconds. I really didn't want to participate so I was the time keeper. Afterwards was the, dun dun dun, 'spin the bottle' game. No, not the typical hormonal teenage way, it was a sort of cross-breed between 'spin the bottle' and 'truth or dare' where you spun the bottle and who ever it landed on you got to dare, then they in turn would spin the bottle, yada yada. Thankfully I wasn't stuck with anything to bad, a couple of kiss the other guys and one kiss Jinx and bunch of none too embarrassing truths. As soon as all of the activities were done, it was about 4:30 and the sun began to set.

Dick quickly stood up and told everyone to get their jackets and asked Victor to help him set up the barbeque. Victor, being the savage wild meat eater that he is, complied and told everyone he didn't need a jacket and that all he needed was Bee's love to keep him warm. He got a smack in the back of the head and Mark and I went to get our jackets.

I was out before Mark again and chose to lean against the patio barrier instead of sitting around the campfire on logs with the rest of them. Dick and Vic were making hotdogs and burgers to the side, while Kori readied the marshmallows and skewers. Mark came along just as Dick and Vic were giving out the burgers and hotdogs, I myself had a hotdog and Mark had a veggie burger. Following dinner was Dick's big surprise. He had whispered to me beforehand that he had something special planned for Kori but didn't say what.

They were fireworks. Pink, red, orange and yellow fireworks. He didn't overdo them of course, no messages of 'I Love You' in the sky, so it was sweet. After that display, They both romantically danced a slow dance to Dick's humming while Wally and Jinx joined them. It was all so sweet and… nauseating.

And there I stood, leaning forward across the patio railing. At this time Vic and Bee were smiling at me and making faces towards Tara and Wilson who were just lying on the blankets Kori set out, her arm across his stomach. Suddenly, I saw Victor wink and give and okay sign when I felt two arms wrap around my middle. I quickly turned and came face to face with Mark who smiled and gave ma kiss on the nose. My face must've turned red when he turned me around, profile to everyone else, who by now had all stopped to stare, and held both my hands in his. Then he reached in to his back pocket and pulled out a long velvet box.

Oh. My. God. He opened it right there with the most adorably hopeful puppy-dog eyes I had ever seen on a grown man and revealed a silver necklace with half of a yin-yang symbol, with a small garnet stone as the dot. He beamed as he reached into his shirt and pulled out a similar necklace with the other half on it. Right then and there, I lost all control and threw away all reasoning, forgetting that he wasn't actually my boyfriend and gave him a huge hug. All the while saying, "Mark! Oh my God! Mark!" over and over again.

As I returned from my high, I heard the unexpected sound of applause. Turning beet red I subconsciously rested my head on Mark's shoulder, away from everyone.

"Kiss!" I heard Victor say. God I was going to kill him.

Then I felt warm hands grab my face and I found myself staring into two beautiful jade orbs. Next thing I knew my lips were on his and there was whistling coming from my friends. Now, I was just in a state of euphoria and complete disbelief that someone I had hired to pretend to be my boyfriend could do something so romantic. No one had ever done anything so sweet to _me_ before, and then the thought that no one _would_ unless I were paying them came to my head and the waterworks were set loose. I stood there, crying on Mark's shoulder. Looking like tears of unbridled joy, but they were actually of utmost depression.

* * *

"Listen," I said as I turned to him back at the room. I was at a complete loss for words, I was so damned shocked, "Uh… Thank you." He was coming out of the shower and was drying his hair with a towel with one hand. I gulped, hopefully not visibly, at how handsome he looked just doing something so simple like drying his hair.

He gave me a weak smile and shrugged, "You're welcome. I figured you deserve something nice for Valentine's Day, I mean this must be pretty depressing for you right?" he got it. Right on the ball, that this was more than depressing. It was borderline suicidal.

"Besides," he began again, "I was acting like such an asshole to you last night. I, kinda, felt like I needed to make it up to you."

"You? I was totally out of line when I said-"

He raised a hand to stop me, "It's ok. I get it all the time. But I'm not one to give up just because someone put me down. I mean, here I am right? Still here, still doing breathing exercises before coming out to see you." So that's what he has bee doing when he would disappear like that. He was breathing.

"No, but Gar. Really, I feel bad for what I said, and I'm sorry. I really didn't deserve what you did for me today… but I really needed it. Thank you." That all came out gentler than I expected it to. Was I softening up to him? I shudder at the thought of softening up to anybody. He gave me a weak smile again and walked towards me, lifting up my chin with his free hand.

"No problem, it was my pleasure… Every woman should be treated like that on Valentine's Day, especially you." I stood there like an idiot, staring up at the empty air where his head had been for God knows how long before I realized that he had gone to the bed and I was free to shower. I looked back and smiled as I saw him creating a barrier of pillows right down the middle of the bed.

As I slept all that night, I dreamt of yin-yangs, Kisses, rose petals and heart shaped cookies. I had enough lovey-dovey crap to last me a few more Valentine's Days. And Gar's final words kept running in my mind. What had he meant by, 'especially you'? Me?

* * *

**A/N: Okay. This is where I apologize. I've been pretty out of it mostly because I'm the stage manager for my school's show and it's alot of responsibility. Thankfully shownight was on the 23rd and we broke plenty of legs. I've had this sitting on my computer for a while now and i was going to update this weekend but I forgot my pen drive at school. So no updating then. I plan on about 3 more chapters on this then that's it. **

**After that, or during, whatever i have time for, I'll update _One Bird, Two Stones_. It really needs to be updated. and after I update that, there will be a very important Author's Note to come.**

**CLUE:** It's getting really hard to ignore those damned sparks


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: Sorry this has been long coming. And further sorries about my other stories and not updating them. Its funny cuz i don't really have writers block, I'****m just having a difficult time finding just that, time. Well enough, on with the show.**

**O wait, my play moved on and won 3 awards! Score!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans or any of the aforementioned movies. **

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* * *

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**Chapter 5**

**It's getting really hard to ignore those damned sparks**

I awoke to the sounds of heavy breathing. Now I know what you're thinking and it's not that, Gar wasn't standing over me drooling and breathing heavily in that creepy way. Though, at first that's what I thought and just thinking about it made me afraid to open my eyes. On the contrary, he was sitting on the armchair by the window, facing out with his eyes closed and doing his breathing exercises.

Now, I don't know how long he'd been doing that, but he must have obviously been nearly done when I woke up because he greeted me.

"Morning Raven," he said, his voice somewhat muffled by the large armchair.

I cleared my throat, trying to get the morning out of my voice, "Morning." I got up and made my way to the washroom passing the dresser on the way and seeing the necklace I got from last night. It really was very sweet of him and I wanted to thank him for getting it. But the problem was I wasn't sure who exactly to thank. Was it Mark, or Gar? I looked back at him and saw him still breathing with his eyes closed. He can be pretty cute when he does that. God Raven, shut up!

I mentally slapped myself and began my morning washroom ceremonies, washing face, brushing teeth, shaving legs and underarms, brushing hair and standing there staring at my reflection for about an hour. I usually took this time to go over what I was going to do, or say I was going to do, and give myself that daily pep-talk to not jump off a bridge and just end it already. Although today it went more than a tad different, instead of all that, I stood in front of the mirror and peered long and hard at my face picking out flaws and blemishes. Then my shirt came off and the criticism continued, as did my shorts and before long I was standing there naked and looking over my body. The bags under my eyes were huge, my thighs were massive, there was an enormous amount of baby fat on my stomach which was less than flat, my feet were ugly, my legs were stumpy, my butt was saggy and ultimately, my boobs were too small. These are all of the things that a woman sees in her body that other people don't, a man may say you're perfect but you know better than to believe him. Men only saw what they wanted, tits and ass.

I sighed and lathered lotion all over myself, if anything I wouldn't let my skin turn to sandpaper. Ready to leave, I put on my robe, grabbed my dirty clothes and went back into the room to find that Gar was already gone. Not that I was disappointed or anything but I had expected him to still be in the room. I quickly got dressed and made my way to the living room.

Immediately the smell of bacon and eggs hit me, making my mouth water. Upon heading to the kitchen I saw every, mostly everybody, gathered around the table happily eating and chatting.

"Raven! You did not tell us that Mark is an excellent cook," said Kori behind a cup of orange juice.

"Yeah, didn't know the boy could cook so well," Victor buzzed in. Mark smiled at me from behind the counter and wiped his hands on a towel.

"They didn't even mind that it's all tofu," he laughed. Everyone at the table laughed and Victor pretended to choke.

"Don't worry about Marky-boy, he normally doesn't eat _any_thing healthy, but this is an unusual exception," said Bee, patting Vic on the back.

"I'll take that as a huge compliment," said Mark still smiling but now walking towards me with two cups in his hand. He handed me one cup and I suspiciously smelled it, it was tea. I looked up at him surprised.

"Hope you like it," he half whispered, seemingly intimate but loud enough that it could be heard, "I'm not sure how you take it so I kept it plain. If it's too bitter, there's some sugar in the kitchen." He smiled softly at me as I took a sip. He took a sip of his own what smelled like coffee. I had to admit, I was a nice surprise and the tea itself wasn't bad. He must have seen the pleased expression on my face because he began to beam and wrapped his free arm around my waist planting a kiss on my cheek. I don't what it was, maybe it was last night, but we both look and acted much, _much_ more comfortable and natural around each other. Any other day I would have blushed and tried to brush him off, but today that somehow seemed rude. And besides, it's not like I _minded_ or anything.

Then he leaned in to my ear and actually whispered, "I remember you drank tea when we first met, just in case you were wondering." He winked and led me to my seat on the table where there was already a plate waiting. He sat beside me and sat half facing the other half facing me, his hand resting on the back of my chair. To say that I was flattered was an understatement. He actually remembered what I was drinking the day we met, it was kind of sweet.

And the food was actually all that the others said, amazing. So it was my turn to whisper, I leaned in close to his ear and said, "I didn't know you could cook. You never told me."

He smiled and whispered back, "You didn't ask. I'm glad you like it."

"Maybe you could cook more often," I joked, nudging him on the side. That's when I realized what this must have looked like. The blissfully happy couple whispering sweet nothings in each other's ear, laughing and giggling in their own happy little world. It was so perfect. I looked up to see Vic and Bee nudging each other at our direction and Wally and Jinx making gagging faces at our 'cuteness'. I stuck my tongue out at them and went back to my delicious breakfast and even more delicious 'boyfriend'.

"Hmmm, what smells so good?" Tara came in yawning and stretching, wearing a robe loosely over her very skimpy red silk night gown.

"Mark made food," said Vic behind a mouthful of bacon.

"Bacon and eggs! My fav," she shrieked while bouncily grabbing a plate and piling on bacon and eggs on it, "How did you know I _love_ bacon and eggs." I glared at her as she sat beside Mark, rubbing his arm as she said 'love'. She sat, giving me a wink, her robe so coincidentally falling open, flashing Mark a bit of leg.

He just smiled politely at her and turned back to me, "Its tofu though. You may not like it."

"Oh nonsense Mark," she touched his arm again; "I'm sure it's great. I mean just look at Vic." Of course Vic was already up again, helping himself to another serving; Bee was sitting down shaking her head and rolling her eyes. Mark looked down at where her hand rested and looked at it as if it was going to bite him. He was good, boy was he good.

I cleared my throat, "So Tara, where's Wilson?" She quickly let go of Mark, kissed her teeth and turned to her food, aggressively stabbing at the eggs with her fork.

"He's sick, he said he doesn't feel like coming on the hike today," I held back a smirk as much as I could. I couldn't help it. Here I was with the perfect and guy and Tara's date was being an absolute ass.

"O yes, speaking of the hike," piped in Dick, "let's leave about eleven-ish. Just us guys right? Kori wants to do gal stuff with all the ladies."

"Oh," pouted Tara, "Dick, I was hoping I could come with you guys. You know how I am with all the girly stuff, besides I love hiking and nature. You know that." She said that whole this staring at Mark, seemingly asking for his approval instead of Dick's. How she was with 'all the girly stuff'? What the hell was that? She _loves_ girly stuff; she is the epitome of girly stuff. And what the hell was all that cutsie, "I love hiking and nature"? Bull, that's what it was, absolute bull.

"Uh, sure friend Tara, you can join the boys in the hiking. I'm sure you would enjoy that more than what I had planned anyways," said a disappointed Kori. I could tell that because of Tara's blatant disregard for her hostess's feelings, Kori was now depressed. Upset because she thinks that Tara doesn't want to spend time with her. I know it's immature but that's the way the girl thinks.

"Great," said Tara, "So I'm coming with the boys hiking. Isn't that great Mark?" She stroked his arm again and he smiled politely at her. I gave her the dirtiest look I could and grabbed his arm from the back of my chair and started playing with his hand, smiling up at him. Tara decided she wanted to try and steal Mark from me, now it's on bitch.

"Alright," said Dick standing up and giving Kori a peck on the cheek, "I'm going to take a shower and get ready for the hike."

"We should be getting ready and showering too," said Jinx, rising and punching Wally on the arm, who was busy stuffing his face along with Vic. He scowled at her and he scowled playfully back, sticking out her tongue. They both exchanged a series of angry, silly faces as Wally swallowed his food, then he rose and grabbed her, nearly bending her backwards with his attack of kisses to her face. Jinx nearly fell over in giggles and I saw Kori mouth an 'awwww' at me. I stuck a finger in my mouth as a gag motion in return. All of the girls at the table, save for Jinx, burst out in laughter and the boys looked up confused. They never pick it up.

After Jinx and Wally finally left, Vic and Bee followed. Kori saw that everyone was done and started picking up dishes. Now stupid me and my conscience, I felt I was obligated to help her. I had just finished the food and I was sitting there watching her clean up after me as if I were a child. So as she picked up my plate, that stupid friendly smile still on her face, I stopped her, smiling back, and stood up grabbing more plates around the table and followed her into the kitchen area. Leaving Mark alone with Tara. The mere thought made my blood inexplicably boil.

Thankfully the kitchen wasn't a separate room, it and the dining area was divided by an island counter which had a double sink were we did our dishes. We were in the midst of drying the dishes and whispering about nonsensical crap when we heard the most annoying, high-pitched, fake laugh come from the dining area. It was Tara, and she was all over Mark. She was practically on top of him and he was laughing back. Why hadn't he gotten up when I left? He should have left with me, or at least gone back to the room. I wasn't paying him to socialize with my friends; he's here to fawn over me.

"Raven, I believe that plate is dry. And also, a half inch thinner," Kori pointed out worriedly. I _was_ grinding the plate a little hard. I hadn't noticed but not only did my actions get harsher but my eyes were stabbing daggers at Tara Markov. I kept on at the plate despite hearing Kori perfectly well. I was too busy picturing Tara getting mauled by mountain lions on the hike. Were there even mountain lions here? Could I somehow find some?

"Raven!" Kori harshly whispered and snapped me out of my trance. I meekly put the plate down, shaking the thoughts from my head and grabbing a new plate. Why the hell was I so upset? He and I weren't actually dating. Besides, this gave me the perfect excuse to break up with him. It would seem I had a blessing in disguise in my hands, but all I could think of were _her _hands running over Mark's arm, her words quietly complimenting how strong they felt. Suddenly pain hit my jaw as I realized I had been grinding my teeth together.

"Sorry Kori, I was just…"

"Distracted?" she said, grabbing the plate from my hands and setting it down. She had a sly look on her face which was a nice changed from the usual look naïveté she wore. "I see how you are upset by Tara's behavior towards your beau." The word 'beau' seriously struck me. I don't know what it was about that word that made me smile, maybe it was the image of me and Garfield walking down the street, holding hands and schmoozing that suddenly came to my head.

"Yeah, I supposed I'm upset." I looked back at them. She was pulling all the stops flirting with him. His head was turned away from me so I couldn't tell whether he was buying into it or not.

"Then I am sorry I allowed for her to join the men in the hiking this afternoon."

I wiped my hand and lay one on her shoulder, "No, it's okay. You were just being a graceful hostess. Now if you'll excuse me." I smiled at her and made my way determinedly towards the dining area where Mark and Tara were still sitting. Coming up behind him I wrapped my arms around his neck giving a hug and kissing him on the cheek.

"Hey, I think we should go shower now too," I casually slipped in. I saw Tara's eyebrows go up when I suggested we both take a shower. Together. This was a perfect example of how intelligent Tara actually was, she had seriously over looked the fact that I was already fully dressed. Thank God for Gar's amazing acting skills because Mark didn't even flinch he just smiled at me and kissed back, mouthing an okay and getting up. He smiled politely at Tara and gave her a wave goodbye as he wrapped and arm around my waist and we headed back to the room. As we walked away, I swore I heard Tara swear under her breath.

* * *

"You're hot for Tara," I casually said, fixing the bed. There really wasn't much to do with it, but I made myself look busy. 

"Nope," he quickly bit back. A bit too quickly maybe? I turned to see him walking around the room without a shirt on wearing cargo pants and hiking boots, a wet towel thrown over his shoulder. He had his back turned to me and he was rummaging through his clothes. Then I caught myself staring. I allowed it because of the fact that he was turned around and couldn't possibly catch me unless he was to quickly turn around. Which, thank the Lord, he didn't. He was built well, quite well. His back was ripped with muscle much like a swimmer's, strong lats, big-but-not-too-big shoulders and his neck, so perfectly aligned with his back, his spine sending your eyes down to his… well.

"Oh, come on. I won't be upset. I saw you two in the dining room."

"No really, I don't really like her as person much less a lover," I turned back around and heard his voice get muffled by a shirt slipping over his head. I really didn't realize it but I was fluffing the same pillow for about 20 minutes and the next thing I knew he was standing on the opposite side of the bed from and offering to help straighten the sheets. I nodded and we lifted the sheets up and created a parachute, reminding me somewhat of what children would do, then let it back down gently, tucking the sides underneath the mattress.

"I mean, she can be a little funny but she just comes on too strong you know?"

I scoffed, "Well to _you_."

"What?"

"I said she comes on strong to you. She's clearly trying to impress you."

"Clearly. You'd have to be a complete idiot not to see it. She flirts like a horny teenager." I had to laugh, and apparently so did he.

"And?"

"And what? She's not my type," he said, shrugging and lotioning his hands. Wow, I thought, what kind of man lotions his hands? The answer came immediately, an actor.

I raised my eyebrow at him, "So what is your type?" Did I just ask that? Lord please tell me I didn't just ask that. _Now_ who's the teenager? Great, I feel like an idiot for asking.

He chuckled a bit which really didn't help my situation, "Well, I don't know. I can't really set a type of person because if you sort of create a mold of the perfect partner, then you'll spend all your time trying to find someone who fits the bill instead of noticing what's actually in front of you. But I can say I have qualities I like in a person."

"Fine, what are the qualities you like in a person?"

"Uh, they'd have to be funny, or at least think I was funny. They'd have to be compassionate and passionate. Generally a good person," he said. Huh. Well. I don't know what I wanted to get out of that little bonding moment, but now that it's over I feel I could breathe a little easier. "What about you? What are you looking for in a guy," he suddenly asked. I spoke too soon.

"What kind of question is that? You should know already? You're playing him."

"Ok, ok, so you're looking for an orphaned botanist who traveled to Bosnia in order to find a cure for…"

"I get it," I sighed, his sarcasm was to die for, "I guess I want a real guy. I know how ironic that sounds but I want a guy who's not uber-romantic that it's sickening, but I do want to be pampered once in a while. I want a guy who's in a relationship for the sake of being in a healthy relationship and not because he wants to get laid on a regular basis and as an added bonus has a pretty young thing as arm candy. He'd have to make me laugh, but not be a complete goofball. He'd have to be hard-working but not a workaholic. Wow, listening to me I must sound like a lunatic who can't make up her mind, huh?" Great, I gave myself a mental slap on the head.

"No," he chuckled, "it's cute. I think that's what every girl wants. Balance, stability." I nodded in response, that made sense and summed up what the hell I was trying to say.

"Balance and stability." And love. I smiled as he offered up his arm to me and rolling my eyes we made our way to the living room.

* * *

I really don't want to bore you with details about the rest of the day, because quite frankly, that's all that it was, boring. Now I didn't voice this opinion of mine, I didn't want to crush Kori, but I had about 5 cups of tea just to keep myself awake through the movies. Oh the movies! The worst romantic chick-flicks you could possibly think of: Maid in Manhattan, when did maids look like that? I've been to many a hotel and I swear they're all old Irish ladies. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, more like how to lose 2 hours of your life you won't ever get back. Kate and Leopold, when does that happen? These movies have no credibility whatsoever. And the crème de la crème of the romantic movie crop, You've Got Mail. Now I'll admit that last one was okay, it was cute. Either it actually was a good movie or the previous ones had all softened me up. 

All in all, not a very productive afternoon. In between movies we'd snack and pig out of chocolate and popcorn then, all hyper and silly, we'd tell one thing about our current relationship to each other that we already didn't know. That may have been the most difficult situation of the entire day. After each movie ended, I dreaded what "secret" I'd have to reveal about Mark and myself. Of course, the ultimate secret would have to remain just that, lest I wished to die a horrible death. Now I'd have to tell Gar that Mark's first gift to me was a roll of toilet paper which he gave to me on our third date to commemorate our meeting. Also that Mark's biggest food fetish was whipped cream and chocolate syrup, and that he _had_, I made him remove them, a few daring piercings on his person. He was an adventurer after all. If you've been keeping count you'd notice that I'm missing one secret that I told them. This was the biggest fabrication of them all and is completely not suited for telling outside of drunken girl talk, I was forced to tell them that we… have yet to have marital relations. I know, I know. It's stupid, but I told them that he wants to save that and that his theory is there are other things you can do besides have sex in a relationship. I whole heartedly agreed.

* * *

The men came home just before dark. That was a degrading sentence if I've ever said one. But it _was_ completely degrading and entirely sexist, the men just spent a day in the woods hiking while the women-folk stayed indoors and ate comfort food while watching romantic comedies; this whole weekend was completely stereotypical. Sadly there wasn't anything I could do about it. 

Mark came in and gave me a peck on the cheek, "Hey."

"Hey back," I said smiling and slightly blushing after the peck then immediately whispered in his ear, "We really need to talk."

He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and whispered back, smirking like a jackass, "Uh-oh that doesn't sound good."

"I'm not joking, we really need to talk," I whispered urgently.

"Ok, ok," he said in a normal voice and kissed me again. I could never really get used to the feeling of that so I blushed a little again.

"Guys, can you stop flirting for one sec? Jesus, Mark man, we were just gone for a couple of hours," hollered Victor from the kitchen, "She ain't goin' nowhere. Now get in here and help me out."

"Sure thing bud," he smiled down at me and hurried away, rolling his eyes playfully. It was absolutely amazing how well he got along with the rest of the guys. They were now calling each other buddy and Mark and Vic seemed like they'd known each other since they were little kids. A real shame that I stood in between of these two buddies, a part of me realized that the girls aren't the only ones who'll be crushed when I 'fessed up. If ever.

After Mark helped out in the kitchen making the meal of the night, taco's, veggie of course for him, I pulled him back to our room.

"Okay, there are a couple of new things to take into consideration." I quickly said.

"Yeah, about that… I got some things too," he said, scratching the back of his head, "But you first."

"Okay, you're first ever gift to me was a roll of toilet paper."

"Because of our first meeting."

"Yep, secondly, your favorite fetish foods are whipped cream and chocolate syrup," he raised and eyebrow as if to ask 'when did this topic come up', I shook my head as if to say 'later' and he just kept nodding, "thirdly, you had a couple of piercings in unmentionable places, and…" I stopped to laugh. He was making the most pained face when I said 'piercings' and I went over to him and punched him playfully on the stomach.

"Relax will ya?"

"Do I, uh, still have them? 'Cause I don't know how to walk with, umm." I smiled again, he was so cute. Mental slap.

"No, you took them off cuz I said so," he gave an adorable sigh of relief, "And lastly, we haven't had sex."

The last one he took surprisingly well, "You're not surprised?"

He shook his head, "No."

"Why?"

"Because Mark is a gentleman and he would wait. We wouldn't want to rush you," he said sweetly enough to make me want to 'aww'. But gladly I didn't.

"Ok, now it's your turn."

He scratched the back of his head, "I kind of told them that I was planning on asking you to move in…"

"That's fine," I interrupted. It was fine, I was just taken a back a bit. Regardless whether he was fictional or not, a guy had never asked me to move in with him. This was a huge leap in made-up our relationship. So far, this has been the best relationship with anyone I've been in since I met Kori. I began to think, if he had really asked me, what would I say? "That's cool, you could 'ask' me tomorrow in front of everyone and I could say no and say this was moving too fast. That constitutes our 'break up' nicely."

"Yeah, but that's not all," I stared up at him, "I kinda told them that I…"

What ever it was, it was hard for him to say and I could tell this was awkward for him. So I stepped a little closer to him and held onto his shoulders, "What? Come on, it can't be that bad? Told them what?"

"That I… I love you."

"O MY GOD!" A shriek came from the door and I jumped about 5 feet in the air, finding myself in Mark's arms.

"Friends! If I overheard what I believe I just overheard, then I am gloriously happy for you!" Kori was standing at the door, hands over her mouth in shock. I didn't what surprised me more, what Mark said or that Kori was there to hear it. Suddenly, Jinx and Bee came rushing in. Way to ruin a romantic moment you guys.

"What happened Kori?" asked Bee.

"We heard you scream," said Jinx.

"I am thankful for your worry friends but there is nothing wrong with me, but there is everything right with our friend. For I just overheard them confess their undying love for one another." She squealed again. The girls stared at me, still his arms, in shock.

"Wow, Rae, that was-" started Bee

"Fast," interjected Jinx. I hung my head in shame. How did Mark's telling me about his day turn into confessing our undying love for one another. All she heard him say was 'I love you,' that's it. Boy, could Kori twist a story or what.

"Uh guys, its, uh…" I stammered. How could I get rid of them nicely?

But Bee put her hand up to shush me, she shook her head and smiled, "Say no more girl. We don't care how long you guys have been together, love hits when it does. You can't pick and choose when. I completely understand, you guys need a moment alone, we'll just be in the kitchen." With that she shoved Kori and Jinx out of the door way.

I pushed myself off of Marks arms and rubbed my temples. In my peripheral vision I saw him coming towards me with a very, very sorry look on his face.

"It's ok," I reassured him, "This can be fixed. Now we just go back in there and look like we're in love. Not too hard right?"

* * *

How I get myself into these situations I suppose I'll never know. And now, I dragged some poor soul, Mark, down with me, and he wasn't even a real person. Even though it was Mark that everyone was going ga-ga for, it was Gar who had to put up with it all. Gar, God bless him, was an absolute godsend. He was smart, kind and compassionate; though I never know when he's Mark and when he's Gar. 

Making out way into the kitchen, Mark and I emerged with his arm protectively around my waist and both of us wearing goofy I'm-in-love smiles.

"Mark, you dog!" Greeted us and we both looked up to see it was coming from Vic, who else. "You asked her didn't ya? Didn't ya? What's the answer Rae, huh?" Vic came right up to us and started fake punching Mark in the stomach while berating him with questions. Thankfully Bee came in and pulled him away.

"Vic, down boy. Give them some room. And besides, she said yes of course," she gave me a wink. I loved how everybody knew everybody else's business in this trip.

We all padded back to the dining area where the table was beautifully set and all of the couples and Tara were standing around behind their chairs. All of there, save Tara, were wearing huge grins on their faces and looked as if they all had secrets about our relationship that only they knew off. Tara just looked pissed off that all of the attention, including Mark's, wasn't on her.

"Friends! It is glorious that you may joins us this evening and we are all quite happy for your good news," Kori said, blinking like she had something in here eye, "We also understand that this is quite a leap for you two and it is our last night gathered here as friends. Although despite Dick and I's recent engagement, your situation is far more miraculous and calls for far greater attention."

Wait, did I hear right? Despite the fact that _they_ were the ones engaged and that it's our last night together as a group of friends they wanted to celebrate my 'moving in' with my boyfriend? And wait, why is it 'miraculous' that some one would say that they loved me. I loved Kori and I knew that she was being sincere but that was a little insulting.

Bee stepped in, "What she's trynna say is that this may be a big deal for Kori, but Rae, it's bigger for you. You don't even talk to men let alone date and fall in love with them." Thanks guys, thanks a lot.

"So, best friend Raven, Richard and I have graciously given up our romantic dinner on the deck for you two." What?

"But," interjected Bee, "you'll have to settle for the oh-so romantic menu: tofu tacos." This got a few laughs around the table and managed to lighten up everybody's mood. They were all now surrounding me and Mark and telling us how happy they were that we decided to take such a huge leap together. Now I couldn't tell them we were breaking up because I rejected his offer, damn. We'd have to come up with another plan. But it'll have to wait until after dinner.

Kori yanked me into a huge, bone-crushing hug and whispered into my ear, "Rae, I am so happy for you. I wish upon your relationship what the gods have given ours; I hope that Mark makes you as happy as Richard makes me." I think those words crushed me more than the hug, but I would have to crush my best friend back.

* * *

**A/N: CLUE:** Being the bearer of bad news is more than most of us can bear. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: Sooo, soo sorry for the wait and delay, I have been nose deep in work and shit. I've been juggling a whole load of crap, cue circus theme. But on the bright side, my play moved onto provincials. That's three in a row baby!**

**No more stalling. Oh yeah, the important Author's Note. I'm retiting. Details below.**

**Disclaimer: I don't the Teen Titans or "All My Life" by K-Ci and Jojo.**

* * *

**Chapter 6 **

**Being the bearer of bad news is more than most of us can bear **

"It was really nice of them to do this for us," he said smiling. The dancing flame of the candle was reflecting off his green eyes. It was like something out of the pages of a cheesy romance novel. You know the kind where the guy is a perfect gentleman and sweeps the girl who's afraid to love off her feet then they magically fall in love and get married, those kinds. I stood there awestruck, hardly believing my eyes. There was a candle-lit dinner for two set out on the dock ahead of us, further down were blankets and pillows set down near the edge. The water surrounding was lit brightly by hundreds of floating tea-lights while the rising moon reflected itself on the surface of the water. It was so secluded, so remote. So romantic.

"Yeah, I know," I looked up from my taco, "Wait, who am I talking to? Mark or Gar?" He took a bit out of his taco and made a show of thinking about it.

"Gar," he said finally, "So maybe we can talk for real. No masks, no show." He finished off his taco and leaned into the table.

"Talk about?"

He shrugged, "Anything. I'd like to get to know my employer."

I nodded and finished up my own taco, taking a sip of wine, "Oh, you mean like what we tried on Thursday? That backfired so badly?"

He chuckled and leaned back on his chair, squinting his eyes as if he were inspecting something, "Okay, anything but now." I raised an eyebrow at what he said. "I mean talk about anything but the job at hand."

"Okay, I'm game."

"Great, so. How long have you been writing?"

I leered at him, "I thought you said nothing about the job at hand?"

He smiled and shrugged, "It's a legitimate question, nothing to do with the article you're writing. Just curious." He noticed the questioning look on my face and gave a small chuckle.

"Fine, I've always loved literature, books, poems, whatever bits of writing I could get my hands on. I was a bit of a recluse when I was younger and all I would do was read. By my final year of high school, I still hadn't decided on what to do with myself so I turned to writing. I was discouraged a lot, especially by my father, a lot of nonsense about how writing isn't a career it's a hobby. So I cheated, I didn't tell him I was going to be a writer, I said I'd be a journalist. So well, here I am."

"Here you are indeed."

"Your turn."

"My turn, what?"

"How did you get into acting," I leaned against the table in a mocking manner. Two can play at that game, "You know, in a completely irrelevant to our current situation way."

He shrugged nonchalantly, "I had a lot of energy when I was a kid." I waited for more, but he wasn't talking. He just sat there in silence staring at me.

"That's it?" I asked outraged, he just nodded his head, "I gave you such a heartfelt account of why I decided to write and all you say is, 'I had a lot of energy'?"

"Okay," he threw up his hands in defeat, "I jumped around a lot when I was a kid. I did a lot of… moving. And I wasn't much of anything, like I wasn't good at sports," With that body? Could've fooled me. "I wasn't very smart, I couldn't draw, couldn't sing. But I still needed an outlet 'cause I had a lot of energy, most of it spent getting into trouble, so I got into acting. I found out I was pretty okay at it and committed all I could into it. Imagine a kid who's never been good at anything finally finding something that he can call his own." It was my turn to smile, I could just picture this over active little kid playing pranks and getting into trouble any way he turns.

"See? That wasn't so bad."

He leered at me, "Whatever, okay my turn. Uh, something simple. What's your favourite color?"

"Blue."

"Green."

"Okay, uhm, why are you a vegetarian?" It was a stupid question, but I always wanted to know why people turned veggie. I mean, it can't possibly be healthy, where do they get their protein. Not to mention the endless amounts of disgusting tofu.

"Well, I've always been a sort of animal lover. I've had a large variety of pets over the years and, I don't know, I can't imagine just killing an animal. It seems so wrong, like they can think, they can learn, they can love."

"They can _love_?" I cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah, you know most birds only have one partner their entire lives? That's more than I can say for humans. We couldn't learn a thing of two about animals. I've always thought if I were smarter I'd be a vet."

"You know you're not as stupid as you make yourself to be."

"Oh but I am, I'm just a very good actor," we both let out a laugh, "My turn. What was your last relationship like?" To say I was taken aback would be an understatement.

"Don't you think that's a little personal?"

"Oh come on, it can't be worse than mine," I scoffed and he raised an eyebrow challengingly, "What? You think because that I'm an actor there are girls falling all over themselves to go out with me?" Not because you're an actor, because you're gorgeous. "Well, it's a sort of catch-22. I attract girls because I'm an actor, and I repel them 'cause I'm broke."

"Well, I'm not answering your question in its entirety, but I will say this. Your love life can _not_ be worse than mine."

"I find that hard to believe."

"Believe it. Besides, what mentally challenged man would want to go out with me? I'm so plain, not like Kori or Tara."

"You know, _some_ men find that 'plain' women are more attractive than women who flaunt their bodies. Personally, I hate it when women degrade themselves like that, its like they have no respect for their bodies and if they don't even respect themselves, how could they possibly respect another person?"

"Well that's you, and you are _one_ guy."

"Sometimes one guy is all it takes." I felt heat rise to my face and prayed that the small light of the candles weren't enough for him to see my blush. God wasn't listening because Gar smiled and near chuckled. We sat there in silence for a while, just looking at each other, then suddenly he closed his eyes and swayed his head rhythmically.

"What are you doing?"

"I love this song?" He replied, eyes still closed, head still swaying, humming quietly.

"What?" What the hell was he doing? I let out a small chuckle, he looked like Stevie Wonder.

"Said, I promise to never fall in love, with a stranger," O god. He started singing, in the most off key, exaggerated way. He got from his chair and continued singing walking around the table.

"You're all that I'm thinking of, I praise the Lord above,

For sending me your love, I cherish every hug,

I really loooooove you!" I couldn't help my self, I burst out laughing. He was definitely not lying when he said he couldn't sing.

"You're no K-Ci and Jojo, Gar. Just stop now." Then he grabbed my arm and yanked me onto my feet, ignoring what I said and continuing to sing.

"All my life, I've prayed for someone like you," He smiled at me, fully knowing how incredibly embarrassing his voice was. Still holding onto my hand, he took my other hand and placed it on his shoulder then rested wrapped his arm around my waist, beginning to sway me.

"And I thank God, that I finally found you, baby,

All my life I've prayed for someone like you," I punched him really hard on the chest and he feigned pain.

"Ow!"

"At least it got you to shut up," I smirked. He stuck his tongue out at me and I rolled my eyes at him, "Now would you say that you were a close friend of Mark's, Gar?"

He gave a small smile and turned playfully serious, "Why, yes. I say I know him best out of anyone. Aside from yourself of course, you know him the best."

"Well," I began, playing into the situation, "I was wondering how he would take the break up." The smile dissolved from his face and he looked right into my eyes, sending chills up and down my spine.

"He is so completely in love with you. He'd be heart-broken," I stared right back, meeting his gaze. He leaned in and whispered, "Now don't tell him I've told you but he once told me… he fell for you back at the grocery store. The frazzled way you looked was adorable. He's constantly thinking of you, you can hardly get him to shut up.

"He can go on and on about how delightful your laugh is, or how adorable your nose is. How your hips sway when you walk, or how you squint when you're angry. Or how when you're nervous, you've developed this endearing twitch in your neck which you put off as getting your hair out of your face. How your skin is like the purest silk, or how your hair sways about your face with a stout elegance.

"He confesses to me how often he catches himself just staring at you, losing himself in your radiance. Or closing his eyes and just listening to the harmonic melody of your voice," He leaned in closer still so that our noses nearly touched. I was so engrossed in the moment, so flattered from his words, so caught up in his dancing eyes that I forgot to blush and just waited and listened. Feeling every sensation of his slow swaying body, the warmth of his arms around me, "Or how he dreams of your soft pillow kisses."

Then he pulled back slightly, smiled the sweetest smile, and hummed the rest of the song. I don't know whether it was the wine or the environment we were in but I didn't pull away. Incredulously, I may have been expecting a kiss, my eyes were half closed already and my lips were slightly pursed, just waiting for his to complete itself. I snapped out of my trance and back pouted my lips; that blush finally catching up to me. I couldn't believe I was so ready to kiss him, but remembering his speech, I'm surprised I didn't just grab him then and there. He beamed down at me as I avoided his gaze and I felt his hand on my chin, lifting it up to him.

"Mark would die for you." There we were, standing in the middle of a dock, dancing to nothing and I could care less. I was actually starting enjoy it, he kept humming the rest of "All My Love" and in some sort of out of body experience, I began to hum with him. He took that as a good sign and held me closer and I allowed my head to rest of his shoulder when I felt my eyes closing. That's when an odd combination of fatigue, euphoria, and that wine came over me and they shut.

* * *

I awoke with the damned sun shining in all its glory in my eyes. I had half a mind to get up and shut the curtains. That when I realised, my bed was unusually hard, and my pillow was moving up and down. My eyes suddenly shot open and I looked around, I was still at the dock, lying on a few blankets and a sleeping Gar. I immediately jumped out of his arms and kicked him. 

"Get up!" I watched as he squinted his eyes closed and stretched. He pushed himself up on his elbows and opened one eye at me. His hair was all messy and standing up, I wanted to run my hands through it. Mental slap, not now.

"We have to pack!" He scratched his head and plopped back down, though it must have been painful considering it's a wooden dock. For some reason, I wanted to just lie back down with him.

I kicked him again, "Get up!"

He groaned, "Well good morning to you too." I rolled my eyes and made my way back to the cottage.

* * *

In my dream it had come to me. How I was going to go about getting rid of this monkey, monkey mean man, off my back. In the most metaphorical sense of the phrase. I would be afraid of commitment, the entire moving in and "I Love You" speeches would be too much for me and Mark and I would quietly dissipate. All after this weekend of course. I would pay Gar for his services and call Kori up one night crying and telling her it hadn't worked out. That way, I can make up any sort of shit my brilliant mind came up with and they wouldn't have any Mark telling them otherwise. 

I watched, holding a warm mug of tea, as Mark loaded up the car. Him, Wally, Victor and Dick were laughing and singing Irish bar songs and they hauled bags into the cars. Mark was glowing, his smile shone like a hundred watt bulb. He was having such a good time with the guys and vice versa. I felt a pang of guilt for breaking up the new buddies, they had gotten along so well together, much better than the guys and Wilson., which made me smile.

"They're like children aren't they?" A voice startled me from behind. It was Jinx. She was holding a mug of coffee herself and joined me in watching the boys.

I nodded, "It's kinda cute."

"Can you believe Kori? I mean, one of us is getting married. It was like yesterday when we were fawning over the English prof in college. Next thing you know Vic and Bee will be hooking up then you and Mark-"

I raised my hand to stop her, "Whoa what makes you think it'll even get that far."

"Oh come on," she rolled her eyes; "You two are so in love. I know you've _said_ it, but anyone can _say_ it. I can _see_ it when I see you."

"What?" I gave her a questioning glare.

"Yeah, tell me you don't do it on purpose. I catch you sometimes, when you think no one's watching. Just staring at him, smiling. And he does it too when you're talking. It sickening really if you think about it," she gave me a joking smirk and nudged my side, "But you too are so cute when you're together, I hardly mind." She sent me a wink and walked towards Wally, calling his name sweetly.

What was she talking about? Me? Staring at him? It was impossible, it was preposterous, never. A small voice in the back of my head, you know that annoying one that tells you that you actually do care what others think and that you really don't like your friend's choice of clothing, was scolding me, I knew perfectly well I was attracted to him, in more ways than just physical. But I was just too stubborn to listen at the time, and if you'd asked me, I'd have denied the whole thing entirely.

* * *

After tear-less goodbyes and many high fives among the boys, each car departed the city. It wasn't all that sad since we would all go back to our apartments, drop off our luggage and man-baggage then meet up again at Toni's later that night. 

Mark had insisted on driving back since I drove headed up. I argued for a good 30 minutes with him, telling him that since he did a lot of packing in the morning I should at least drive. He just shook his head, grabbed my waist and kissed me, all the while sneakily fishing the keys away from my grasp and then running away like a child, sticking his tongue out at me.

We woke up around 10:30; apparently Kori had worriedly come to wake us up at 9 and saw us on the dock and decided to let us sleep for a while longer. Of course by the time we woke up, we had about half an hour to pack before we were left behind in the middle of the woods. We hardly had time to _fold_ clothes let alone shower. The only bit of calm I got that morning was when Mark volunteered to load the car and told me to get some caffeine in my system before I exploded at him. Hey, who was I to argue if he wanted to do all the work.

The ride home was interesting. We talked a lot about complete randomness. Randomnocity he called it. He told me about he developed the asinine breathing exercise to get into character; apparently it was a calming technique he picked up from one of his high school counsellors. I told him about the I was stuck babysitting three little brats when I was in high school, then he laughed and told me the kids sounded like him when he was younger. I would tell him my most embarrassing moments and he would tell me his, he would tell me about a horrible past relationship and I would counter with one of my own. It became a match of wits, a competition of who had a more miserable life. Occasionally a song would come up on the radio and he would turn it up, say he "loved this song" and would belt at the top of his lungs. He would miss a few words and just mumble and keep nodding his head. And once in a while, I'd catch my self humming and nodding along with him.

We were talking about which Sesame Street character was the coolest when we pulled up to his apartment. He had just said something about Count having asthma and we were laughing.

"Well, I'm here. I'll talk to you later." Then, it all happened in a flash, he leaned across and kissed me, on the lips. We both quickly opened our eyes and pulled away, blushing furiously.

After an awkward minute, he cleared his throat, "Sorry. I guess I must still be in character." Another moment passed. I honestly didn't know what to say. Well, he did mention how after his breathing exercises he gets so committed in a character it's hard to break it. Yes, that's a perfectly logical explanation for what just transpired. He smiled at me and got out of the car. I got out and got over to the driver's seat and popped the trunk for him. He got his duffel walked back to my door, leaning in the open car window with his free arm.

"Garfield, you don't know how grateful I am that you did this. Thank you. I'll send you a copy of the full article when it's printed. And really," I grabbed the necklace he gave me on Friday which hung around my neck, "Thank you."

He just smiled back at me, looking deep into my eyes and taking a deep breath before speaking in what sounded like a sad tone, "It's no problem. That's what you paid me for."

* * *

I got home and immediately went to my laptop. I had left it at home for a reason, I'm not an idiot, I've seen my fair share of movies, and I know how snoopy people can be. And I wasn't about to be the idiotic heroine in a movie that does something so incredibly stupid you're yelling at the screen, then afterwards is so shocked when she finds out they knew all along. The ending of the piece would have to be open now that I didn't actually break up with him publicly, that just makes people want more of my work. I've whetted their appetites. Clicking print was the most refreshing moment of the entire weekend. Now I'd have to go out and send it over, personally, to the papers before heading to Toni's. 

It didn't actually hit me very hard until the following day, as I was reading the article that I actually have to tell my friends that Mark and I had broken up. Or else, they would expect him at any sort of get together from now on in. And quite frankly, I didn't have very much money left. The perfect opportunity to drop the bomb on them came when Bee called. It hadn't gone as well as I'd thought. I figured I'd have to put more emphasis on the fact that _I_ broke up with _him_ due to my commitment issues or else I came off as unemotional.

Bee nearly screamed at me on the phone for letting such a 'perfect match' go, just like that. And like wild fire the news spread. My phone rang off the hook with upset and consoling phone calls from the rest of the gang, including some of the guys. They kept on and on about how great a guy Mark was. I told them I couldn't help but agree.

"Raven, he was in love with you," protested Kori.

"Yes, but the whole thing was just moving so fast."

"You know you'll never find anyone like him again! There are plenty of fish in the sea, but that kind is particularly rare," interjected Bee.

"I knew it," butted Tara, "He was _way_ too good for you. Give me his number and I'm sure _I_ can give him what he wants."

"Oh hush Tara, they were so in love. Rae-Rae just got spooked with the whole moving in thing, that's all," said Jinx.

"You don't know what you're doing!"

"You don't know what you're losing, what you're missing!"

"You just dropped him like a hot potato? A _very_ hot, sexy potato?"

"Raven, the man was a miracle, sent by the gods in the high heavens to make you happy. And you sent him back! Return to sender!"

"I'm telling you, give me his number. If you don't appreciate a fine hunk of man then I will."

"He was a doctor!"

"He wasn't!"

"Whatever, he was educated."

"Not to mention incredibly hot!"

"And polite."

"And excitingly adventurous."

"And kind, and giving, and sweet."

"I can't believe it's the _woman _backing out because of 'commitment issues'. It's like roles have switched, you're like the man."

"That's it isn't it? You're gay!"

"AM NOT!"

"Well you'd have to be to dump a man like _that?_"

"Leave her alone, it doesn't matter if she's gay."

"I'M NOT GAY!"

"Jesus Raven, make up your mind."

"I'm not! He was just too intense for me, he wanted to get married and start a family…"

"Yes, and that's _not _what every woman's dream is, finding the perfect guy and settling down."

"Maybe it's not mine…"

"See I told you she's gay."

"Shut up Tara, she's not gay. She just has issues with men because of her father."

"Daddy issues."

"I do _not _have 'daddy issues'!"

"Yeah you guys, maybe we're jumping to conclusions here-"

"Yes, thank you."

"Maybe it was that incident with Malco-"

"Kori!" It went on and on like this for what seemed like weeks. It came to a point that I was afraid to answer my phone.

By the following Thursday, the entire things had blown over. I was no longer getting upsetting phone calls from my friends telling me how much of an idiot I was for letting him go and they finally decided to respect my decision.

* * *

I know it's weird, but now that he's gone, I'm beginning to notice the small things that he did when he wasn't. Like how his ears were slightly pointed, or how he seemed to puff out his chest when he stood still. How he slouched a bit when he walked with me but go back to standing straight with others, I think he was trying to get down more to my lever. How he'd wrinkle his nose when he was angry, how he'd smile whenever I rolled my eyes. How his eyes sort of twinkled when he saw me blush, how his hair fell over his eyes no matter what he did with it, giving it that just-out-of-bed look. And how his smallest smile would make my knees weak and turn me to jell-O. 

Could it be I was missing him? Did I actually like it when he held me or hand his hand in mine. Was I missing his touch, his smile, the sound of his voice? I would lie on my bed and recall exact details of our dates and the weekend, smiling at the jokes I hear him say in my head. I would turn over and miss the scent of his aftershave drifting from beyond the pillow border. Then I'd remember; he was an actor. A man I'd hired to _pretend _to be in love with me. A guy who had to do breathing exercises to even be near me. I paid him to be sweet, to be nice, to be memorable. And boy did I get my money's worth, because I'd fall asleep thinking about him and wake up with my pillow damp with tears.

* * *

**A/N: Yes, you heard me right up there. I'm retiring from writing fanfiction. I'm going to finish this, _One Bird, Two Stones, _and_ Before Sunset_ and then I'm done. I may come back to do one shots but other than that, I'm gone.**

**CLUE:** Standing up for yourself does wonders for your self esteem, which is a good thing since other people aren't going to be too crazy about you


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note: Okay here it is, as promised.

Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans

* * *

**Chapter 7**

**Standing up for yourself does wonders for your self esteem, which is a good thing since other people aren't going to be too crazy about you**

Days passed, weeks passed, months passed and, eventually, years passed. Okay, so I'm exaggerating a bit. A few days passed, few meaning three. I wasn't quite sure what was wrong with me but I found myself eating quite a bit. And not in the normal sitting-down-and-having-a-meal sort of way, more like the only-when-I'm-alone-and-slobbishly-splayed-all-over-the-couch way. I could hardly bear to watch myself let go like that but it was like seeing a car accident, you know it's horrible but you just can't seem take your eyes off it.

The Valentines Day craze passed and I was yet again looking for a job. It was times like these when I wish I had taken that full time, regularly paid position at whatever generic newspaper had offered it. And then I think of having show up everyday with a shit-covered piece about how to get you hair straight in 5 easy steps and quickly push those thoughts out of my head. They are then replaced, more often than not, with manic depression and a serious examination of my life as it is.

With the recent events that have revolved around my life I began to wonder about myself. I wasn't getting any younger, any self respecting mirror could tell me that. So what now? I sat there with a box of chocolate covered marshmallows and a 2 litre bottle of pop I was drinking out of as if it were a can and stared at the black emptiness of the TV. Kori was getting married, Jinx and Wally will probably soon follow, and eventually, Bee will get tired of waiting and ask Vic to marry _her_, wherein he can't refuse. Tara was still ok, she would probably end up marrying in Vegas then divorcing the next day then remarrying again, just for the heck of it. What about me? My friends, the ones who counted, had all found their Mr Right. In my little world, he didn't exist.

It wasn't that I was choosy; it was that I didn't have _it_. A lot of women have _it_, most have found _it_ and others were born with _it_. _It_ was something that all women had; _it_ was packaged into our DNA in order to snag a man and potential husband. But clearly God was half asleep when he was supposed to give me _it_ and unfortunately, I didn't come with a warranty.

I talked to Gar about this, some time along the car ride back into the city. I hadn't found my Mr Right and he hadn't found his Ms Right. Suddenly I was filled in to what went on in a guy's mind, well at least the one I was with. He told me that all men secretly want to get married. They'd never admit it of course, but somewhere in the back of their heads, they want a family, a house, a dog, the works, even the mini van. He personally couldn't wait to get married. He said he'd grown tired of the bachelor life, the dating, the bar hoping, the one night stands, the waking up on a king sized bed alone. He wanted to find the right woman and spoil and love her for the rest of his natural life. He wanted to be a father and got excited at the thought of playing with his future kids, teaching them how to ride their bikes, going to their games and dance recitals. It was all so endearing.

Now back to me. I didn't have aspirations like that. For the past 10 year's I've lived life as it came. Now most people would argue that that isn't a bad thing, those people would be young. The older you get the more you realise that if you don't have a plan for your future, it was like driving a car blind, you know how to work the car but without guidance you could crash. Shaking the repetitive car crash analogies out of my head I decided to out for a jog. Maybe that would rattle these thought out of my head and get me back to thinking straight, all the while running off the 5 pounds I've put on.

* * *

Exhausted and looking like shit in my sweat pants and tank top with that useless built in bra, I slipped into the nearest 7/11 to buy a V-8. And who did I see at the counter? John, the Toni's waiter. 

"Hey, wow, do you work here now too?" I asked him, retying my ponytail as he tried to figure out the register.

He chuckled, "No, I'm filling in for a friend."

"Cool," I said offhandedly. He got the V-8 through and I slipped him a fiver and told him to keep the change as I opened the bottle and hungrily drank all the yum-yum healthy goodness in. Why the hell did I want a V-8 again? What came over me? It tasted like cold tomato soup.

"I read your latest article," John told me as I stuck out my tongue with disgust, "the one on the Voice?"

I gulped, "Really?"

"Yea," he gave me a knowing look, "Do they know?" I bowed my head in shame, an obvious no. He looked at me sympathetically and leaned across the counter.

"Raven, I think they may like to know. And no matter how embarrassing it is, you have to tell them about the article. It's just wrong to do that to your friends." Who are you? Gar? I flashed a quick smile and made a gesture that said I'd think about it then rushed out of the 7/11, chucking the V-8 in the garbage outside.

I hadn't decided to tell them yet, but slowly my conscience was eating away at my pride.

* * *

"What in the hell is this?" Tara threw the newspaper down on the table at Toni's. She was fuming in a pride filled sort of way, her nose upturned in my direction, her mouth curved into a victorious smirk. Kori looked between me and Tara in our stare down contest while Bee picked up the paper and began to read. Her eyes widening in offence as it went on. 

She put the paper down and squinted her eyes at me incredulously, "Rae?" Jinx picked up the paper and began to read herself. She put the paper down halfway through and shook her head with her eyes closed, chuckling in disbelief.

She looked at me smiling, "This isn't you, right? It's some other author who accidentalychose your name as a pseudonym, right? You would never lie to us like that. Right?" I could look her in the face anymore. I shut my eyes tight and tried to block the situation out.

"Raven here has been misleading us, having us believe that this 'Mark' was her boyfriend and to rub it in that she did, she writes about it in the most popular free newspaper in the city." Tara was really adding insult to injury. I looked over to Kori who now held the paper incredulously in her hands, her eyes pleading with me.

"Friend Raven, it is not true…"

"I meant to tell you, really I did. I just-"

"Didn't?" Tara made her way to behind Kori and was rubbing her shoulders and shaking her head at me.

"I do not understand, I thought we were best of friends. Why would you not tell me?" Kori looked at me despairingly and I couldn't seem to come up with an answer.

"'Cause she's selfish, that's why."

"Shut up Tara," mumbled Bee who was also staring at me.

"Why should I? Do you guys understand what she did? She made us all look like fools and she lied to us. She's been lying to us for weeks. Who else knows how long before that," Tara scoffed at me, "and to think, we comforted you about your break up."

"You were the first of whom I told when Richard proposed, before even my own sister," Kori was on the verge of tears. She was very emotional as opposed to the other who just got angry.

"I was going to tell you, I just... didn't know how."

"Oh, all the words you had to describe us in your article and couldn't find a few to tell us it was all some stupid act?" I had had enough, I couldn't stand their eyes on me like that. Despite my better judgement, I got up, wiping tears threatening to be shed, and left. I shoved my way past a foreboding looking John, who was carrying our drinks, and rushed out of there.

The last words I heard being, "I knew she couldn't _actually_ get a man to love her."

* * *

I know these time lapse things are completely overdone and starting to get really annoying, but time passed. I was nursing a double dose of depression, one for my apparent lack of love life, and another for mourning the loss of my best friends. What Tara said had really affected me. Not only does it show that everyone can see that I'm more likely to catch a cold than a boyfriend, but what's worse is my friends think it too. 

A few days had passed since the episode at Toni's. It was Wednesday and someone had graciously offered me a permanent job writing responses to people's love troubles. Despite the absolute irony in what I was doing, I did need to eat. Besides, what was I going to tell them, "I'm sorry I can't actually take this job giving advice on people's love lives because of my lack thereof?" No, I couldn't say that.

It was around that time, I was writing a response to teenager who didn't know how to get the attention of the girl he liked. For about two paragraphs he went on and on about amazingly smart, and funny, and beautiful and whatever other adjective of 'perfect' he could come up with. I was working on a response that sounded like good advice when the phone rang. I was tempted to not answer it but I was so blocked that I needed a distraction.

I trudged over to the phone, "Hello?"

"Hello Raven." A familiar cheery voice came on the line.

"Kori?"

"Yes, it is I; I was wondering if we may speak?" Uh oh, she wanted to talk to me. This could get ugly. We had agreed before that I was to be her maid of honour, but what with the awkwardness of the recent events, I assumed it was not to be.

"Uh, yea, sure. Uhm, whe-"

"Well, now would suffice. I am at your lobby. It is the lobby phone I am using." At least she hasn't changed.

"Ok then, I'll buzz you right up," I pressed the button long enough for her to enter and quickly decided to put on pants. No matter how much she hated me, she wouldn't want to see me in my underwear.

A few minutes later there was a knock at the door. Upon opening the door, I was quickly smothered by a hug. I felt Kori's deceivingly strong arms cutting my circulation and several large books that she was holding poke into my back. What was going on? Was she trying to kill me? She couldn't possibly be that mad.

She quickly released me and barged into my apartment, throwing down her things onto my sofa and clearing my coffee table with one swiped of her powerful arm.

"Okay Raven, we must begin the preparations."

I blinked a few times, "Excuse me? Preparations?"

"Yes, for the wedding, did you forget?" She looked up at me smilingly and genuinely confused. Her large books were already opened on my coffee table revealing several pictures, fabric swatches and colour pallets.

"The wedding?"

"Yes," she looked at me suspiciously, "_My_ wedding. To Richard? And you are my maid of honour?"

My eyes widened and I slowly made my way to the couch, "I'm still your maid of honour?"

She looked at me funny and chuckled, "Why would you not be? You are my best friend."

"Yeah, but…I thought you were mad at me. What with the article, and the deception and the lying…"

She whisked a hand in the air, "Oh that, you did not believe that I would still be angry about that did you?"

"Well, you seemed pretty upset… and I haven't talked to you in days…"

She smiled at me and grabbed my arm nearly yanking it off on my way down on the sofa, "Raven, I was upset that you did not feel you trusted me enough. _Was_."

"It's not that I didn't trust you. It's…" It was hard to put into words. What ever compelled me to do that was pure emotion, and now having to explain it to someone was difficult without making myself look like an idiot first. Kori looked at me like a puppy waiting for instruction, her green eyes innocently waiting for an answer.

"It was… embarrassing," That was it, that was the word and it set me off into a frenzy of emotion that just poured out, "I mean Bee has Vic who's more loyal than a dog, Jinx's got Wally, Tara dates a different guy every week and you… You just got engaged to the love of your life! I felt like I was being left behind... Kind of like, well. Do you remember when we were in high school, and we were so '_mature'_ that we didn't care whether we had boyfriends or not because we always had work to do. Well, I feel like you've grown up but I haven't. And I know I can't physically compete with other women out there and… I don't know, I've always been kind of shy around guys, and I've said that I'm to busy to be in a serious relationship but… I still get kind of lonely sometimes. Like during the week, you guys are all out on dates and I'm at home writing about dating in my latest article, even though I haven't the faintest idea of what one feels like."

I took a deep breath and let out a sigh. I hadn't realised that hot tears had begun to flow down my cheek and that Kori was looking at me worriedly. But she, God bless her, let me go on.

"And I know its all friendly ribbing, but sometimes what you guys say actually affects me. I know I shrug it off, or roll my eyes or laugh about it, but that doesn't meanI can't think about it when I'm at home… alone," I grabbed a tissue off the end table behind me and wiped my tears, "And I realised what Tara said last Sunday, about me not actually being able to get someone to love me, I realised that she's right. I can't, I'm so pathetic I have to _pay_ a guy to _pretend_ to be in love with me."

Kori let out an 'awwww' and gave me hug, gentler this time, "Raven, I did not know you felt this way. If you had told me-"

"Now see, I couldn't have told you. I'm Raven, I'm the sarcastic, unfeeling one." Kori released me, holding onto my shoulders and looking into my eyes, giving me a friendly smile.

"No, you are not the 'unfeeling one'. You are the 'my best friend' one," she looked down at my land resting on my knee and took it hers, "Forgiven, forgotten."

I smiled back, that's what we used to say to each other when we got into fights when we were younger. I can't believe she still remembered it. She smiled at me and I smiled back, breaking out into a giggle that we both shared. It was nice to have friends again.

"Now, what is all this about you not being able to woo a man?"

"Oh come on, Kori."

"No, I know you Raven, you can bring any man to his knees."

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, in tears. It's just, I didn't realise before Gar-"

Kori raised an eyebrow, "Gar?"

I don't know why but I felt a blush creep up my face, "Yeah, uhm, that's 'Mark's real name. Yeah, before him I didn't realise how much I was really missing. Y'know, the holding hands-"

"The little kisses on the cheek-" She finished, smirking slyly at me.

"The funny little inside jokes-"

"The looks in the eye-"

"The unexpected hugs…" then I trailed off, big mistake.

Kori squealed, "Oh my gosh Raven! You are smitten with Gar!"

I scoffed, "Smitten? Who are you my grandmother?"

"Do not change the subject, you are in love with Gar!"

"No, no, no. No way," I said, shaking my head and waving my arms.

Her eyes widened, "Yes! Yes you are! Why else would you still be thinking about it?" I opened my mouth to say something but couldn't come up with an excuse. She squealed again, "You must call him!"

"No!"

"But you admit, you love him?"

I sighed dejectedly, "I don't know about _love_…" She giggles and clapped her hands. Then she stopped and grabbed a hold of my arms, pinning them to my sides. She began to shake me like a rag doll.

"Raven! You must call him, you must tell him! And he shall be your date for the wedding!" She exclaimed, overly excited. She, without warning, let go of my arms and turned to the large books on the coffee table, hurriedly flipping through the largest black one, searching for something. She found it and shoved it in my face. It was picture of a dress.

"This shall be your bride's maid's dress." I plucked the picture from Kori's over excitedly shaking hands and scanned the dress. It was nice. She smiled at my approval and took out another picture, "And this is your date's suit." I couldn't believe it, she had picked out my _date's_ suit.

"My date?" I asked her disbelievingly.

"Yes, before I read the article, I convinced Dick to make Mark the best man, in honour of my friendship with you." My jaw dropped, Dick would do that for her?

"What about Wally, or Victor? He and Victor have been way longer friends."

"He spoke with Victor about it; he thought it was a great idea. Besides, he said, they would always be friends but this would have been a way of initiating Mark into the group. And they really liked him."

I rose and shook my head, "Well you better tell Victor he's the best man because _Mark_ doesn't exist."

"But Raven, you may take Gar-"

"No," I cut her off, "Kori, you hardly know Gar. Besides, I don't speak with him anymore."

"But you have his number do you not? You can ca-"

"I don't have it anymore, I threw it out after the article was printed." Surprisingly, that wasn't a lie. I didn't want any reminder of him so I threw out his number, actually more like ceremonially burned it so there were no loose bits of paper I could rummage in the garbage for in caseI snapped.

"Oh, Raven."

"No, its okay. I can go dateless. It's not that big of a deal. Just call Dick and we'll get to planning your wedding now, okay?" She gave me one last look of sadness and just as quickly it came it was gone and replaced by giddy perkiness.

I smiled as I watched as she skipped to my house phone and called Dick about the change of plans. Okay, so maybe Gar wasn't Mr. Right, but my life was falling back into place. And I was sure as shit that I would never lay eyes on Garfield Logan again.

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**A/N: Ookay, great! I wanna take this opportunity to thank everyone who reviewed, faved and alerted this story. Thanks so much for the great feedback and ego inflatingly kind words to 'Your Friend and Humble Narrator' (hehe, A Clockwork Orange).**

**Well, g'bye...**

**So long...**

**Farewell...**

**Toodles...**

**Sayonarra...**

**Hasta la vista...**

**Later...**

**Actually**

**One more chapter to go, you didn't think I was so cruel that I'll actually leave you with that now did you?**

**CLUE: Every end is a new beginning, or maybe not as new a beginning as you may have thought.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: Okay here it is, last chapter. If you're hoping for a sequel, sorry to shoot you down but that's not going to happen. Read first, rant later.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans or The Wedding Date. **

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**Chapter 8**

**Every end is a new beginning, or maybe not as new a beginning as you may have thought**

The wedding came and went. It was beautiful, like a page out of a fairy tale and I didn't expect any less from Kori. She looked like princess and Dick looked like a prince. The wedding was held at Bruce's Cliffside manor at the back. They said their vows at the cliff, the sound of water crashing on the rocks in the back, and we all cheered and cried as they had their first kiss as husband and wife. I had stood there, happily smiling for the beautiful new couple; Vic on the opposite side of me, patting Dick on the back.

The reception was there too, it was a large property. It was held under tents of white gossamer which turned nearly see-through during the night, giving everyone an amazing view of the stars. Kori and I arranged for there to be a classical band as opposed to a modern one, thus completing the fairy tale motif. Underneath the gossamer, underneath the stars, people from all walks of Kori's life had shown up; her guardian Galfore, her sister Mandy and her brother Ryan.

The rest of the gang was there too. They had all forgiven me by then, except maybe Tara, and had begun to laugh about it jokingly from time to time. Of course Kori didn't mention the little emotional break down back at the apartment. Tara still clearly didn't like me but made a show of hiding it, in front of Kori and the others she'd all be friendly, but alone she wouldn't even glance at meunless it weren't a dirty look.

Of course, Vic and I had prepared speeches. His was long and joking, while mine was short and get to the point sweet. She's great person, blah, blah, blah. I remember when, blah, blah, blah. Perfect match, blah, blah, blah. Met Dick, fell in love and they all lived happily ever after, the end. It was more sugary than that but, you the drift.

The reception itself was actually great. I even danced with a few of Dick's old friends, a couple of whom, Garth and Roy to name two, asked for my number. I gave it but never expected any calls. After all, weddings were a great place to 'scope chicks', and by the looks of Kori's sister, that and the fact that Tara didn't have a date either, they'd all be going for them.

Though, when I came home I got a few messages from Dick's friends asking me out for drinks. I accepted a few and dated around a little but nothing too serious, I was still getting the hang of this after all. My home life had taken a quick turn for the better. I lost my job as the love correspondent but then immediately got signed on to a screenwriting agency who had read the fated article from the Voice. They called me in and said that I was 'very daring' and 'well researched' and asked whether I had any experience in film. I've spent the last6 months or so attending writing for film and television classes at the university. Now I'm in the process of editing the shooting script of my debut movie,a romantic comedy called _The Wedding Date_.

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I woke up on an annoyingly bright and beautiful Wednesday morning. I didn't have to worry muchabout what I was going to eatnowadays since I had a job. I got up, shut the curtains and got back to bed only to have my alarm wake me up again 15 minutes later, drat. I begrudgingly got out of bed and got on with my morning ritual; shower, tea and toast, computer. Since I was on a payroll for doing absolutely nothing but typing on my laptop, I had to make sure that I kept myself on schedule. The draft was due pretty soon, they needed this last draft to start rehersals. The thing was already cast, can you believe it? Images of Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Tom Hanks and various other movie stars floated in my head. Pssh, yeah right, probably some no name actor who couldn't get a job elsewhere. Who would want to star in _my_ film? 

Coming up with an idea for the script wasn't hard, neither were the character work and dialogue. It was the format that was a bitch. Turns out that if you so much as bind your script with anything other than brass head split pins, producers won't even _look_ at your script. Everything had to be according to the strict guidelines for margining, titling and caps locking. You couldn't even use different fonts or coloured paper, apparently the colour of the script shows what stage of production it's at.

I sighed and sipped my tea as I waited for my computer to boot up. I subconsciously reached for the toast that would have been on the left side of the coffee table, that's was if I didn't forget to make it. Then I realised, I didn't _have_ any toast that's why I didn't make any. Come to think of it, I had very little food in my apartment. Swearing at my lack of hindsight I made my way back into my room to change, just when I heard the chime for Windows on my laptop, great.

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Toilet paper, check. Milk, check. Bread, check. Various fruits and veggies, check. Drumsticks, check. Shake and Bake, check. Shake and Bake, better make it two. It was about time I was honest with myself, I couldn't cook so why try. At least with the Shake and Bake, the instructions were on the title. 

I was on my way to check out the TV microwave dinners when I stopped dead on my tracks, my shirt was caught on a display of Old El Paso Taco Kits. I impatiently tried to pull away as hard as I could when I saw the giant foam taco begin to wobble. Forgetting I was attached to the damned thing I tried to run, resulting in only making it angrier. I watched as the giant taco came on me when two hands came out of nowhere and caught it above my head. I turned to see my saviour and let out a small gasp.

Gar was standing right in front of me, arms outstretched over my head, his chest in my face, his own face looking down at me and grinning from ear to ear. I caught myself blushing madly and mumbling a thank you before speeding away with my cart.

"Raven!" O god, he was following me. Don't look back, don't look back.

"Hey, Raven," he grabbed onto my arms and turned me around. I refused to look at him so I shut my eyes tight and squinted my face. I felt him let go and heard him chuckle.

"Raven, come on. Please talk to me," I opened one eye stared at him through it, "There you go, open your beautiful eyes." He smiled I opened both of them, crossing my arms in front of my chest waiting for what it was he had to say that as so important.

He took a deep breath and scratched the back of his head nervously, "I've been looking for you for months now. I was gunna call you but I lost your number, I tried to look you up but you weren't listed. I saw the article and wanted to know how it went?" That was it? How'd the article go? That's what was so important?

"Good, I got a job writing film scripts now. Oh, and Kori and Dick got married." He shot me a surprised expression as if he were a long time friend to hadn't heard.

"Well, great for you… uhm, s-say congratulations to them for me."

"What about you?"

"Oh, uhm, I wascast for a feature film. It's still in its pre-production stages so I'm just waiting. But, I'm lead." It was my turn to mouth a wow. So he did it huh?

"Do you, uhm, are you seeing anyone?" He asked hesitantly.

"Kind of, I've been dating around…"

"Oh, well great. That's great. For you I mean," he shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back and forth on his heel. Suddenly he jerked his thumb pointing behind him, "Uhm, guess I better get going, huh?"

He waved at me, other arm still stiff straight in his pocket, and started walking backwards. I smiled and waved back as he turned around and walked away. All of a sudden, he stopped and walked right back to me with more conviction.

"I don't know about you," he started, his arm still in his pocket, it looked as if his pants might fall if he pushed it down anymore, "But I think we had a connection back there. I don't know, maybe I'm crazy, but I swear I felt sparks. I mean, half the time I wasn't acting then, I thought you might've noticed when I slowly stopped doing my breathing exercises, until I wasn't doing them at all. And… the car ride back… I don't know. I guess I really like you and… uhm… yeah, I must seem like this huge dork. But…"

He took out his hand from his pocket and clasped his hands together in mock prayer, "If you would just give me one chance, one date. Me, Garfield Logan, not Mark Graham. I mean… I don't know if I'm Mr. Right… but I could be Mr. Right Now." He sent me that boyish smile he had that made my insides churn. His green eyes begged me to say yes. I didn't know, I honestly didn't know. What if it didn't work out, what if it was actually Mark Graham I fell in love with and not Garfield Logan? How awkward would it be introducing, or should I say _re_-introducing him to my friends. I pulled away from his gze and looked to the ground. He gave a sigh of defeat and stood straight up and began to walk away.

"Gar," I sighed and looked up at him, "Did you know that 80 percent of women who say that they're too busy to have a relationship… are really lonely?" He shot me a smile and came running back wrapping me a warm hug and hoisting me off the ground. I spat at him to put me down as he ignored me and spun around once before finally reuniting my feet with the ground. He gave me the biggest grin I had ever seen on him and grabbed him face, pulling me into an incredibly heated kiss that drew stares at people passing by and caused on woman to cover her son's eyes. His lips finally released mine and he wrapped an arm around my shoulder as I began to push the cart again, him walking beside me.

He smiled and reached into the cart, pulling out a box of Shake and Bake, "How 'bout you chuck this and I make you dinner tonight?" He asked smiling, "And every night…"

I laughed and elbowed him in the gut, changing the subject, "So, what's that movie you're starring in?"

"I don't know its some newcomer film called _The Wedding Date_, I have no clue what it's even about let alone who's writing it."

I grinned and looked up at him, "Well actually, funny story…"

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A/N: Okay, _now_ it's over. I was actually planning on posting this later but I'm not going to be near computer for the weekend.

**Haha, thank you to Shay Bo Bay for telling me about _The Wedding Date_. It caught my attention so much that i had to use it, I think I've placed it in nicely. Onto my other stories now. Then I'm off to the home for retired fanfic writers. **

**To answer everyone's burning question as to why I'm stopping writing here, well there are a could of reasons. First, I need to concentrate on school. Second, the show's over. Third, I wan't to start writing scripts again, those after all are my first love.**

**Well, ttfn, ta-ta for now...**

**Magisterquinn (if you can tell me what my name means, then I'll consider writing a epilogue)**


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